by Parisa Hafezi and James Mackenzie
WASHINGTON/DUBAI (Reuters) – Explosions rang out in the Iranian city of Isfahan on Friday, with sources suggesting an attack by Israel, but Iran downplayed the incident and said it did not want to retaliate.
Tehran’s cautious response and the limited scale of the attack could indicate that diplomatic efforts to avoid an escalation of the conflict between the two regional rival powers have paid off after Iran’s attack on Israel last Saturday.
Iranian media and officials reported several small explosions, which they said resulted from the activation of air defense systems to shoot down three drones over Isfahan.
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They described the incident as an attack by “infiltrators”, not Israel, obviating the need for retaliation.
An Iranian official told Reuters there were no plans to respond to Israel over the incident.
“The foreign origin of the incident has not been confirmed. We have not received an external attack, and the discussion leans more towards infiltration than attack,” the official said.
Traveling to New York, United States, to attend a United Nations Security Council meeting on the Middle East, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said the drone attack had no caused no damage or casualties.
The Israeli government has vowed to respond to Tehran’s large-scale salvo of drones and missiles launched on Saturday – Iran’s first direct attack on Israel – in retaliation for an April 1 strike, believed to be Israeli, against an Iranian diplomatic compound. in Damascus, Syria.
The United States, close allies of Israel, have exerted strong pressure so that any new response is calibrated so as not to provoke an escalation of the conflict.
Questioned repeatedly Friday at a news conference in Italy, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he would not comment, saying only that the United States was committed to Israel’s security but were not involved in any offensive operations.
But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is also under internal pressure to provide a stronger response.
“Israel has tried to balance the need to react with the desire not to enter into a cycle of action and counter-reaction that would only intensify endlessly,” commented Itamar Rabinovich, former Israeli ambassador. in Washington.
On X, the Minister of National Security Ben Gvir, a figure of the Israeli extreme right, published a single word on Friday: “Weak!”
“SUSPICIOUS OBJECT”
In Iran, reports of Friday’s explosions did not mention Israel.
According to Iranian state television, “three drones were observed over Isfahan. Air defense systems were activated and destroyed these drones in the sky” shortly after midnight.
Air defense systems targeted a “suspicious object”, army commander-in-chief Siavosh Mihandoust said, according to comments reported by state television.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran’s nuclear sites were not damaged in Israel’s alleged response against Iran.
The Natanz nuclear site, the centerpiece of Iran’s uranium enrichment program, is located in the province of Isfahan.
In the morning, Iran had reopened its main airports and airspace after closing them during the strikes.
The incident sparked renewed international concern as Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi declared this week that any Israeli attack on Iranian soil “would be met with a severe response.”
“It is absolutely necessary that the region remains stable and that all parties refrain from any further action,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday.
On the financial markets, the renewed tensions have resulted in a jump in crude oil prices and a strong aversion to risk, which penalizes the equity markets and favors sovereign bonds.
(Reporting Humeyra Panuk, Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali in Washington and Parisa Hafezi in Dubai; with contributions from Kanishka Singh, Jasper Ward, Jamie Freed and Dan Williams; written by Stephen Coates and Peter Graff; French version Blandine Hénault and Kate Entringer, edited by Tangi Salaün)
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