Attack during the night

US officials: Israel attacks Iran with drones

(Bild: Tasnim/kameraOne)

The Iranian air defense has reportedly "successfully shot down" several small drones. US media report that Israel has begun the retaliatory strike. Government representatives from the USA and Israel have confirmed an attack.

Following the activation of air defenses in various parts of Iran, there is no evidence of a missile attack on the country, according to state media. It was not a widespread attack, the state news agency Irna reported early on Friday.

Iran assumes "infiltration"
The air defense was activated after the sighting of several drones. According to a senior official representative, the Islamic Republic is not planning any retaliatory measures for the time being. According to him, Israel will not concede the strike.

"The foreign source of the incident has not been confirmed," the Iranian representative, who did not wish to be named, told Reuters news agency on Friday. There had been no "external attack" on Iran, he added. "The discussion tends more towards infiltration than attack."

Drones part of Israeli retaliation
According to consistent US media reports, Israel is said to have attacked Iran. The ABC News, MSNBC and Fox News channels and other media reported, citing US government representatives, that Israel had carried out a military operation in Iran. This was a reaction to the Iranian airstrikes on Israel at the weekend.

Several media reported that one or more Israeli missiles had attacked a target in Iran. Initially, there was no direct attribution of blame from the Iranian side and only a confirmation of drones in their airspace. The extent of the damage is not known.

The White House and the Pentagon made no official comment. However, US officials had also confirmed to CNN that Israel had conducted military operations against Iran, but did not elaborate on the mission. Two Israeli officials confirmed the launch of the retaliation to the New York Times.

According to US military expert Cedric Leighton, Israel's action, which was "clearly a direct response to the Iranian attacks over the weekend", proved that the Iranian air defense system does not have anywhere near the capabilities of the Israeli one.

Biden administration was warned
Israel had already warned Joe Biden's administration on Thursday that the attack would take place in the next 24 to 48 hours. According to CNN, the Israelis assured their US counterparts that Iran's nuclear facilities would not be attacked.

According to Iranian sources, the air defense system fired at unspecified targets at a nuclear facility in Isfahan.(Bild: Tasnim/kameraOne)

Iranian state television later reported that three drones were discovered in the sky over Isfahan, the air defense system was activated and the drones were destroyed. There was no explosion on the ground. Earlier on Friday night, there were reports of an explosion near the city of Isfahan, which according to state media was triggered by the air defense system.

Nuclear research center in attack area
Important facilities of the Iranian arms industry are located in Isfahan. The country's largest nuclear research center is also located in the cultural city. According to the radio, there was no danger to the nuclear facilities there, as confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency. According to the semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim, shots were heard in Isfahan. According to the report, anti-aircraft fire was fired at unspecified targets near a nuclear facility.

A video is said to show the air defense near Isfahan: 

Iran had attacked Israel with hundreds of drones, cruise missiles and rockets on Sunday night. The background to this was a suspected Israeli attack on the Iranian embassy compound in the Syrian capital Damascus, in which two generals from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards were killed at the beginning of April. Israel had announced its intention to respond to the Iranian attack.