Israel launched strikes against Iran early on Friday morning, Israeli and western officials said, in what appeared to be limited retaliatory action for last week’s drone and missile attack by Tehran. Iran’s air defences shot at incoming targets and explosions were reported near the cities of Isfahan, in central Iran, and Tabriz in the north-west, local authorities and media said. Iranian state media played down the damage from the attacks and Iran lifted flight restrictions imposed overnight. Three western officials confirmed the strike on Iran had been launched by Israel.
The country notified the US of its intention to carry out strikes in Iran on Thursday evening, giving its closest ally a few hours’ official notice, an Israeli official said. The warning did not include details of the attack, but made clear that Israel intended to avoid Tehran and its vicinity and was focused on a specific military programme or facility related to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, the official said. US secretary of state Antony Blinken signalled that Washington had not taken part in the strike. In comments at a G7 meeting in Capri, he said: “The US has not been involved in any offensive operations,” but declined to comment on specifics.
“What we are focused on . . . is our work to de-escalate tension,” he added, calling on “all concerned to exercise restraint”. Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani said the US had been informed at “the last minute” ahead of the strike.
Separately, Syria’s Sana state news agency reported that Israeli missiles had targeted air defence positions in its southern region, citing a military source. A person familiar with the matter said the strike in Iran had hit a military target involved in the large-scale Iranian attack on Israel a week ago, and that they were not aware of any casualties.
The person said that “some targets” had also been hit in southern Syria. “Geographically it shows that Israel can get to wherever it wants in Iran,” the person said. “That was part of the message.” Isfahan houses both a military air base and an important site in Iran’s nuclear programme, which Tehran insists is purely peaceful but which the west fears could put the Islamic republic on the threshold of weapons capacity. The Tasnim news agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guards, reported that the air base and nuclear facility near the city were safe and dismissed reports of any attack from outside the country.
Abdolrahim Mousavi, Iran’s top army commander, was quoted by state media as saying that air defence batteries in Isfahan had shot at a few airborne objects, leaving no damage. He said experts were conducting further investigations and their findings would be announced in due course. The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, said it could “confirm that there is no damage to Iran’s nuclear sites” but called for “extreme restraint”. A senior EU official described Friday’s strike as “a very limited attack”, with “no human consequences or huge damage”. They added: “Of all the options, it is clear that this is a very minor action on the side of Israel.” Oil prices jumped in the immediate aftermath of the attacks before giving up their gains as traders bet against further escalation. Brent crude was down 0.5 per cent on the day at $86.69 a barrel, having earlier climbed above $90. Stock markets fell, with the Stoxx Europe 600 index down 0.4 per cent. At a press conference, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that “Israel absolutely has the right to self defence”. But he added: “Significant escalation is not in anyone’s interest. What we want to see is calm heads prevail across the region.” Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi made no mention of the Israeli attack in a nationwide televised speech on Friday, but hailed last week’s strike on Israel as an indication of his own country’s military prowess. In accordance with Israel’s long-held policy of ambiguity regarding its operations against Iran, spokespeople for the government and military declined to comment. But in contacts with allies before the strike, Israel had indicated that, while it reserved the right to respond to Iran’s attack, it was not seeking escalation, according to a western diplomat. In a critical post on X, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right minister for national security, who had called for a “crushing attack” against Iran, wrote: “Weak!” His comments were condemned by Yair Lapid, leader of the country’s biggest opposition party. “Never before has a minister in the security cabinet done such heavy damage to the country’s security, its image and its international status,” Lapid wrote. “In an unforgivable one-word tweet, Ben-Gvir managed to mock and shame Israel from Tehran to Washington.”
