20 April, Washington/Cairo – Iran’s foreign minister played down the strike on Friday, saying Tehran was looking into an attack that occurred overnight, but added that there was no proof of any connection to Israel at this time.
The drones took off from inside Iran and flew for a few hundred meters before being shot down, according to Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, who spoke with NBC News.
“They’re … more like toys that our children play with, not drones,” Amirabdollahian said.
“It has not been proved to us that there is a connection between these and Israel,” he said, stating that, based on information from Tehran, media reports were inaccurate but that Iran was looking into the subject.
Iranian officials and media reported a few explosions that they said were caused by air defenses striking three drones above the central Iranian city of Isfahan early on Friday morning. Retaliation was not necessary since they described the incident as an attack by “infiltrators” rather than by Israel.
Amirabdollahian issued a warning, saying Tehran would respond immediately and to the fullest extent possible if Israel reacted and moved against Iran’s interests.
“But if not, then we are done. We are concluded,” he said.
Deep within the nation, the strike seemed to be directed towards an Iranian Air Force base close to the city of Isfahan, although it didn’t hit any important locations or seriously harm anything.
Regarding the incident, Israel has remained silent. The White House declined to comment, but U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken asserted that the country had not participated in any offensive activities.
CALIBRATED RETALIATION
Following Iran’s first-ever direct attack on Israel on April 13, which ended without a single fatality after Israel and its allies shot down hundreds of missiles and drones, Israel had threatened to retaliate.
Following an alleged Israeli bombing on April 1 that destroyed a building in Iran’s embassy compound in Damascus and killed multiple Iranian personnel, including a top general, Tehran launched those attacks.
The United States and its allies exerted pressure throughout the week to guarantee that any more reprisal would not lead to an even greater escalation, and in an effort to appease Israel, Western nations strengthened sanctions on Iran.
Israel remained silent on Friday over the possibility of additional actions. In addition to attacking directly on Iranian soil, it can also launch cyberattacks and attacks on Iranian proxies abroad.
After six months of carnage in Gaza, violence between Israel and Iranian proxies across the Middle East has escalated, sparking concerns that the long-running rivals’ shadow war may turn into a direct confrontation.
After Hamas Islamists attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people, according to Israeli counts, Israel launched its assault on Gaza. The Gazan Health Ministry reports that 34,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza as a result of Israel’s military onslaught.
Over half of the 2.3 million people living in Gaza are said to be sheltering in parts of Rafah, which was targeted by Israeli planes and tanks as night fell on Friday. This information has been confirmed by locals, Hamas media, and officials at the Gaza health ministry, which is managed by Hamas.
Nine people—four of them were children—were killed and numerous others were injured when a single strike struck two flats in a city residential structure, according to health officials.
At least five homes in the central Gaza refugee camp of Al-Nuseirat were also destroyed by airstrikes, according to locals and Hamas media.
Abu Omar, an Al-Nuseirat resident, told Reuters on a chat app that “they (Israeli security) phoned some residents and ordered them to evacuate their houses before planes bombed some buildings nearby.”
“Soon as we ran away explosions shook the ground,” he continued.
A request for response was not immediately answered by the Israeli authorities.
