Iran Downplays Reports of 'Israeli' Air Attacks Overnight

According to satellite images obtained by CNN, there is not any extensive damage at an air base purportedly targeted by an Israeli military strike.

The synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite images were taken around 10:18 a.m. local time (06:48 GMT).

Initial analysis of satellite imagery reveals no large craters or visibly destroyed buildings in the complex. However, due to cloud cover, further investigation using high-resolution satellite imagery with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is necessary. Unlike standard satellite images, SAR utilizes radar beams that penetrate clouds, allowing for ground observation. These radar beams bounce off objects, creating detailed data for analysis.

IRGC-affiliated FARS said that an army radar at the Esfahan province military base was one of the possible targets, and that the only damage from the attack was broken windows on several office buildings.

According to the CNN, the Iranian F-14 Tomcats that have been stationed at the air base in the past are not there any more. Additional archival satellite imageryshows that the F-14 Tomcats have not been there for some time.

Aviation Expert Navid Ghadiri Anarki says enhanced security measures taken by airlines, including suspension of flights and restrictions on using the Iranian airspace, will last for at least another two weeks.

Speaking to Iran International on Friday, he said that “although the disruptions would incur a heavy cost on airlines, flight and passenger safety is a priority for them."

In response to the question of whether such measures are always taken in wartime, he said that after the shooting down of the Ukrainian flight PS752 by the IRGC, the world's trust in the Islamic Republic's adherence to international aviation laws has diminished.

Flight PS752 was shot down by two air-defense missiles fired by the IRGC shortly after taking off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport on January 8, 2020. The attack occurred in the aftermath of the IRGC's missile strikes on Iraqi bases hosting US troops, conducted in retaliation for the killing of IRGC Quds Force Commander Ghasem Soleimani in a US drone strike just five days earlier.

All 176 passengers and crew members, including 63 Canadians, 10 Swedes, and 82 Iranian citizens, lost their lives in the disaster.

Iran’s former top diplomat has described the Israeli attack on Esfahan as “reckless fireworks,” urging countries to focus on ending “Israeli transgressions.”

“In light of today's reckless fireworks in Esfahan (Isfahan), all countries and leaders should focus on ending Israeli transgressions, particularly its war on Gaza,” Mohammad Javad Zarif said on X.

Amid threats on tit-for-tat attacks on nuclear sites, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog warned Friday that targeting a nuclear facility is “playing with fire.”

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi told Sky News, “We have our teams of inspectors who are permanently working in Iran in all the nuclear sites of the country and of course, through the night we were following with great attention what was going on there.” 

“Fortunately we were able to confirm early this morning that after these attacks that there has not been any damage to these sites,” he added.

Grossi also urging everyone to “exercise maximum restraint,” underlining that “Targeting a nuclear facility, apart from being forbidden by international law, is playing with fire."

Israeli President Isaac Herzog delivered a video speech today without making any mention of its strike on Iran.

Focusing mainly on hostages held by Hamas, Herzog said this year’s Passover will not be the same without them. 

“We all remember and remind in the deepest way that the covenant between the state and its citizens obligates us to act in every way, with creativity, determination, and courage, to bring the daughters and sons home,” he said.

Direct state-to-state strikes between Israel and Iran are “over,” a regional intelligence source tells CNN.

The source speculates that Iran won’t respond to last night’s alleged Israeli strike in Isfahan.

Mehdi Toghyani, a lawmaker representing Esfahan at the parliament, says the “desperate attempt” from Israel “with the help of local agents” had failed.

“The Zionist regime's desperate attempt, with the help of local agents, to carry out an attack using several small drones on one of Esfahan's military bases, failed and brought them further disgrace,” he said on X.

“Know that we are fully prepared to defend our beloved Iran.”

Although both Iran and Israel are somewhat silent about the attack, Iranian media say some small drones were intercepted over Esfahan and Israeli media focus on the symbolic aspect of the attack. Analysts say the attack sent a message to Tehran that Israel can attack deep within Iranian territory without restraint, implying that Israel can attack Iran's nuclear facilities -- not far from the reported location of the strike -- but chose not to on this occasion.

The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken declined to comment on the overnight attack in Iran, insisting that Washington is not involved in any offensive operation.

“I’m not going to speak to that, except to say that the United States has not been involved in any offensive operation,” Blinken told reporters in Capri, where he attended the G7 meeting.

He underlined that the US is committed to Israel’s security and to “de-escalation” in the Middle East.

Earlier in the day, Italy’s foreign minister revealed that the US received “last minute” information from Israel about an attack on Iran. 

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told reporters in Capri that the US told the G7 ministers at a morning session that it had been “informed at the last minute.”

Both Iran and Israel are downplaying the Friday Attack.

During his speech on Friday noon, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi made no mention of the attack on Esfahan. However, he did talk about the April 13 attack on Israel.

“Operation True Promise (Iran’s codename for the attack) led to authority, unity and cohesion in the country,” Raisi said. “Today, all political groups and factions believe that this response was necessary and a big honor for the country.”

Iran’s army has said several small drones were intercepted over an airbase in Esfahan, noting that the incident is being investigated and further information will be made public later.

Several international airlines have canceled flights in and out of Tel Aviv, hours after reports of the Israeli strike on an Iranian airbase in Esfahan (Isfahan).

KLM, Swiss Air, Austrian Airlines and Lufthansa have canceled today’s flights to and from Israel, according to Channel 12. Flight schedules were disrupted over the past week as airlines reacted to Iran’s unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel overnight Saturday.

Iran has no plan for immediate retaliation against Israel, a senior Iranian official told Reuters Friday, as officials in Jerusalem indicated that the alleged drone attack was meant to send a signal rather than cause damage.

In a strong stance against Iran, G7 foreign ministers vowed to hold the country accountable for its actions in the Middle East, which they condemn as "malicious and destabilizing."

The ministers also warned on "new and significant measures" against Iran if it supplies ballistic missiles to Russia.

The G7 foreign ministers' statement also urged Iran and Israel to avoid any further escalation.

"In light of reports of strikes on April 19th, we urge all parties to work to prevent further escalation. The G7 will continue to work to this end," added the statement issued by the ministers on Friday at the end of a three-day summit on the island of Capri.

The Jerusalem Post has said that long-range missiles from aircraft were used in the attack to avoid Tehran's radar detection capabilities, debunking Iran’s claims that “micro drones” were used.

Unnamed sources confirmed to the Jerusalem Post that the attack on Iran hit Iranian air force assets in Esfahan, in close proximity to the Islamic Republic's nuclear site in the same area, implying that the attack was designed not only to hurt Iran but also to make it eminently clear how vulnerable its nuclear sites are.

“The message was unmistakable, ‘we chose not to hit your nuclear sites this time, but we could have done worse right here,’" sources told the Post.

Claiming that this kind of attack can be done again at any time, the report said, “This was a very nuanced middle-of-the-road attack, designed to threaten optimally for the future but also reduce the likelihood of another Iranian counter-strike following the Islamic Republic's launching around 350 aerial threats at the Jewish state last weekend."

Despite Iran’s efforts to downplay the impacts of the attack, analyst Hossein Aghaie claims in an interview with Iran International that “the psychological impact” of the attack is inevitable.

Syria's state news agency, SANA, has reported that the Israeli military carried out airstrikes against the country early on Friday morning. SANA claimed that Syrian air defenses "intercepted" the attack.

Israeli media had previously reported that airstrikes had also targeted Syria and parts of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq early on Friday morning. The reports suggested that the primary targets were air defense systems, in an attempt to "divert" and "blind" them in order to facilitate the attack on Esfahan, Iran.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, also confirmed that the strike hit a military radar.

The Observatory's chief Rami Abdurrahman said six Israeli fighter jets entered Syria's airspace and were flying east when they were spotted by the radar.

Other unconfirmed reports indicate strikes near the cities of Daraa in Syria and Baghdad in Iraq.

Iranian Lawmaker Mahmoud Abbaszadeh Meshkini has warned Israel for having made “a very dangerous and strategic mistake by playing with the lion's tail".

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Foundation for Defense of Democracies Senior Adviser Richard Goldberg says the recent attacks by Iran and Israel is a “paradigm shift,” suggesting that the adversary of the two arch-nemeses is no longer a shadow war.

“That seems to indicate that Iran is seeking to step down off the ledge, minimize the impact of the attack, and perhaps walk back down the escalation ladder from here,” analyst Jonathan Lord, the senior fellow and director of the Middle East security program at US think tank, the Center for a New American Security, told Reuters on Friday.

Iranian media reported explosions, but an Iranian official told Reuters those were caused by air defense systems. State media said three drones over the central city of Esfahan had been shot down.

Iranian analyst Shukriya Bradost told Iran International that it seems the early Friday attack has been a limited military response by Israel.

“It seems if there’s a war between Iran and Israel, countries in the region would back Israel, just like they backed Saddam in the Iran-Iraq war. The Islamic Republic may deny this attack to avoid responding to it," the analyst said.

Footage released from Iran on Friday (April 19) purportedly shows the nuclear site in Esfahan (Isfahan), as state media Tasnim news agency reports that a loud blast heard near Esfahan was caused by "air defence firing at a suspicious object."

The footage released by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on their social media channel appears to show no damage has been reported around the nuclear site.

Iran International is unable to independently verify the content, date, and conditions under which this was filmed.

A man can be seen checking his watch near the Esfahan Nuclear Technology Centre during the video, which includes a uranium conversion facility (UCF).

The camera then zooms in on several troops standing around an air defence battery surrounding the nuclear site.

A video of fire engines near the Army’s Fighter Base in Esfahan

Iranian government’s official news website, IRNA, downplayed reports of an Israeli attack on targets in Iran.

As the day began in Tehran, IRNS in a short update said, “Following the activation of air defense systems in some parts of the country to counter potential threats, reports from IRNA correspondents across the country indicate that there have been no reports of large (widespread) strikes or explosions resulting from any aerial threats.”

IRNA’s wording was vague leaving room for the possibility of some targets having been attacked. Since most reports early on Friday said that large explosions took place near Esfahan (Isfahan), IRNA said, “Field investigations in Isfahan city show that critical facilities in this province, especially nuclear facilities, are fully secure and no incidents have been reported.”

The official news agency also tried to downplay of any major air threats, by hinting at possibly smaller flying objects.

“Images captured by users depict the activity of anti-aircraft guns in some parts of the country, which act as point defense systems against low-altitude threats, and their activity in a fully alert state is completely normal. So far, there have been no reports of missile defense system launches.”

Iranian Army Commander Abdolrahim Mousavi claims that the explosions heard over Esfahan (Isfahan) were the sound of shooting down ‘flying objects.’

He denied the attribution of the explosions to Israel, calling the reports “absurd.”

Responding to a question about Iran's potential retaliation against Israel, Mousavi said that Israel has“seen Iran's response before."

Additionally, a deputy for security at Iran’s East Azarbaijan province said, "No suspicious activity has taken place at the provincial or national level," claiming complete calm in the region.

Regarding the sound heard in the metropolitan area of provincial capital Tabriz, he added: "The sound was related to a routine aerial defense observation of unidentified objects. There was no intrusion of drones or any other unauthorized aerial vehicles."

Infiltration or Attack

Reuters cited an unnamed Iranian official as saying that Iran has no plan for immediate retaliation against Israel.

"The foreign source of the incident has not been confirmed. We have not received any external attack, and the discussion leans more towards infiltration than attack."

France is calling for de-escalation in the Middle-East crisis, Deputy French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Friday, responding to reports that Israel launched an air attack on Iranian soil earlier that day.

"All I can say is that France's position is to call on all actors for de-escalation and restraint," Barrot told Sud Radio.

Doubling the call, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who is hosting a meeting of G7 counterparts, calls for a “absolute de-escalation” after reports that Israel carried out a strike on Iran.

“We invite everyone to be cautious to avoid an escalation,” he tells RAI news from Capri, adding that the G7 wanted an “absolute de-escalation” in the Middle East.

Israel's hard right Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir issued the one word posting "Feeble!" on social media platform X on Friday, following reports of an apparently limited Israeli strike in Iran that appeared to have elicited a muted response from Iranian officials.

Iranian Revolutionary Guard media responded to the social media post, saying, “The Israeli authorities are mocking themselves!”

“The Minister of Internal Security of the Zionist regime wrote to the reports about the Esfahan incident: Weak!” IRGC-affiliated Tasnim posted on X, formerly Twitter.

British security firm Ambrey said on Friday merchant vessels transiting the Persian Gulf and Western Indian Ocean were advised to stay alert in case of increased uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) activity in the region.

The early Friday attack in Iran "was intended to signal to Iran that Israel had the ability to strike inside the country," an unnamed Israeli official told the Washington Post.

The UN's nuclear watchdog (IAEA) has confirmed Iranian nuclear sites are unharmed, following reports of a strike in Iran's Isfahan.

The IAEA also reiterated its call for both Iran and Israel to show maximum restraint, stressing that atomic facilities should never be targeted.

The Iranian Army's radar in Isfahan was one of the possible targets of the early Friday attack, the IRGC-affiliated Fars News reports.

"The micro air vehicles had been flown by infiltrators inside Iran," Iranian media reported, quoting a pundit as saying on Iran's state TV.

Separately, the spokesman for Iran's National Cyberspace Center confirmed that the MAVs had been flown from inside Iran.

The US Embassy in Jerusalem has restricted the US government employees and their family members from personal travel outside the greater Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Be'er Sheva areas until further notice "out of an abundance of caution following reports that Israel conducted a retaliatory strike inside Iran.

"The US Embassy in Jerusalem reminds US citizens of the continued need for caution and increased personal security awareness as security incidents often take place without warning. The security environment remains complex and can change quickly depending on the political situation and recent events," a security alert issued by the US Embassy says.

Siavash Mihandoust, an Iranian Army official in Isfahan, said the sound of explosion heard in the city on Friday morning was the result of the air defense's shoot-down of a "suspicious object". "The incident didn't leave any damages," the official said.

Iran has lifted all restrictions on flights to/from Tehran's Khomeini and Mehrabad airports, which had been imposed following reports of an Israeli strike in Isfahan, airport officials said.

A spokesman for the country's Aviation Organization said the restrictions have also been lifted in "some other airports".

"We should send rockets not at each other, but rather to the stars," SpaceX chief Elon Musk tweeted following reports of an Israeli strike in Iran in retaliation for the April 13 Iranian attack on Israel.

“We urge Australians in Israel or the Occupied Palestinian Territories to depart if it's safe to do so,” reads a travel alert from Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

"There’s a high threat of military reprisals & terrorist attacks against Israel & Israeli interests across the region. The security situation could deteriorate quickly. We urge Australians in Israel or the Occupied Palestinian Territories to depart if it's safe to do so," said a post in the Smart Traveller account on X, which posts advice from DFAT.

The Israeli military struck Iran early on Friday, the New York Times reported citing two Israeli defense officials.

Iranian analyst Shukriya Bradost told Iran International that it seems the attack launched against Iran early Friday has been a limited military response by Israel.

“It seems if there’s a war between Iran and Israel, countries in the region would back Israel, just like they backed Saddam in the Iran-Iraq war. The Islamic Republic may deny this attack to avoid responding to it," the analyst said.

The US was not involved in Israel's strike in Iran, a source familiar with the situation confirmed to NBC News, adding that there was a pre-notification to the US from the Israelis about the strike.

An Iranian official told Reuters there was no "missile attack" against Iran. The IRGC-affiliated Tasnim also dismissed reports of any "foreign attack" on Isfahan or elsewhere.

The secretariat of Iran's Supreme National Security Council has dismissed "foreign media reports" that the SNSC will hold an emergency meeting following the suspected Israeli strike, the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news reports.

The US "didn't endorse the (Israeli) response" against Iran's April 13 attack, CNN reported citing an American official.

The Iranian Judiciary's Mizan News Agency has dismissed "foreign media reports" about an incident in Iran's nuclear facilities in Isfahan, saying the sites are totally safe.

Israeli officials had informed the US earlier Thursday that they would retaliate against Iran within 24-48 hours, Bloomberg reported, citing two US officials.

Iran's official news agency IRNA says no explosion has been reported in any part of the country except for Isfahan where the Iranian air defenses shot down "micro air vehicles".

A well-placed military source has told Fox News that the Israeli strike against Iran was "limited" and was in retaliation for Tehran's weekend attack on Israel.

The IRGC-affiliated Fars News confirmed reports of an explosion in the city of Tabriz in northwestern Iran but said that it was caused by the Iranian air defense system's shooting at a "suspicious object".

Iran's official news agency IRNA says the country's air defense systems have been activated in "multiple provinces".

Iran's semi-official Mehr News Agency says multiple explosions were heard in Isfahan at 4 am, Friday. The report says an explosion in eastern Isfahan probably was caused by the activation of Iran's air defense systems.

The IRGC-affiliated Fars News says three explosions were heard near the Iranian Air Force's military base close to Isfahan Airport.

Several flights have been diverted over the Iranian airspace amid reports of the Israeli attack against a site in Iran.

There are unconfirmed reports that the target may have been an Iranian airbase housing F-14 "Tomcat" fighter jets of Iran's Air Force.

Israeli missiles have hit a site in Iran, a US official confirmed to ABC News.

IRGC-affiliated Fars News has confirmed that explosions were heard in the city of Qahjaverestan in northwest Isfahan.

Reports have emerged of near simultaneous explosions in Iran, Iraq and Syria, giving rise to speculations that Israel may be behind the attacks.