Iran has recently denied external aggression following a mysterious drone attack on the cities of Isfahan and Tabriz early on April 19. It was an intercepted domestic attack, Iranian air defenses said, adding that military and nuclear facilities were safe and that there was no damage. "The sound was related to Isfahan's air defense systems firing at suspicious objects and we have not had any damage or accident," said Iranian army commander Siavash Mihandoust.
Video shows the moment Iran's air defense shot down several mini quadcopters near Isfahan. pic.twitter.com/93dwwtAzPz
— Press TV ? (@PressTV) April 19, 2024
Following circulating news on Western-based media outlets, regarding a supposed Israeli attack on Iran, sources told Al Mayadeen that such an event did not occur. Instead, Iranian air defenses repelled a relatively small drone attack, which was likely launched domestically.
A local named Setareh Sadeqi, an independent researcher and journalist even posted on X, formerly Twitter, "I'm in Isfahan. I didn't hear the explosion as it happened just outside of the city. The city is calm and quiet for now. 6:05 am. #Iran."
I'm in Isfahan. I didn't hear the explosion as it happened just outside of the city. The city is calm and quiet for now.
6:05 am. #Iran
— Setareh Sadeqi ?? ????? ????? (@Leelako) April 19, 2024
Even state news outlet Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that "the city and province of Isfahan are in a normal condition" after the downing of the three drones. IRNA wrote that air defenses were activated in Tabriz, in northern Iran, resulting in a series of explosions and added that no aerial objects hit ground targets in Tabriz and that all loud sounds were a result of interceptors exploding over Tabriz's sky.
Right after the incident, the New York Times (NYT) cited three unnamed Iranian officials claiming that an airbase in Isfahan was attacked, adding that the official refrained from mentioning who was behind the attack. Two Israeli officials told the NYT that Israel struck Iran early on Friday morning. CNN also cited a U.S. official saying Israel attacked Iran.
"Until this moment, there has been no air attack from outside the borders to Isfahan or other parts of the country … there was only a failed and humiliating attempt to fly quadcopters, and the quadcopters have been shot down. The news of the American media is not true … It seems that American media has dreamed that Israel attacked Iran," Iranian journalist Hossein Dalirian said via his social media account. (Related: Report: U.S. and U.K. helped shoot down Iranian drones and missiles launched against Israel.)
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The "drone attack" coincided with Israeli airstrikes on Syrian army positions in Syria's southern province of Deraa. Hours before, at least 20 members of a pro-Syrian government faction consisting of Palestinian volunteers named Liwa al-Quds were massacred in an ISIS shooting and RPG attack as they were traveling on a bus in the Al-Sukhna area of the Syrian desert near Homs.
Meanwhile, Tel Aviv has vowed to respond to Iran's Operation True Promise, which saw hundreds of Iranian drones and missiles target Israel last weekend as a retaliation to the Israeli strike on Tehran’s consulate in Damascus at the start of April. Iran has repeatedly warned since its operation against Israel that any response will be met with ten times the force of last weekend's operation.
Israel's limited attack on Iran is a "de-escalation," a step back while Jerusalem saves face, expert comments
According to an expert on Middle Eastern security and a senior lecturer at King's College London's School of Security Studies, Dr. Andreas Krieg, such a limited strike could be seen as an effort by Tel Aviv to climb down from a major kinetic conflict.
He said that if this is the real extent of Israel's retaliation, it could be described as a deescalatory strike. The use of small drones such as quadcopters provides a degree of plausible deniability that could help Iran downplay the effect of the attack. "We could say that this attack makes a return to the shadow war that has been ongoing for years if that is the extent of it," the expert said, adding that "The Iranians would have to respond to a strike that is not deniable or involved Israeli jets over Iran but this attack does not cross the threshold. Neither side wants an all-out war."
As per the Iranian officials, Tehran 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,' one Iranian official said on condition of anonymity," they said.
In the days following Iran's bombardment of Israel with missiles and drones last Saturday, Israeli ministers vowed to strike back, with Tel Aviv's hawkish National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir declaring his nation must be prepared to go berserk on Tehran. As such, the small-scale strikes were not received well by the hard-right elements of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's War Cabinet, with Ben-Gvir himself deriding this morning's explosions in Iran as "feeble."
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