The attack launched by Israel this night did not only target Iran, but also Syria and Iraq.
Major Turkish media outlets reported the news, including CNN Turk.
According to the latter, the drones of the Jewish State had also hit Iran-related and as yet unspecified targets in Syria and Iraq, two countries in which Tehran’s influence has grown in recent years.
The Israeli military struck Iran on Friday, April 19 — according to two Israeli officials and three Iranians who spoke to the prestigious New York Times — in what appeared to be Israel’s first military response to Iran’s attack.
Iranian officials said an attack had hit a military airbase near the central Iranian city of Isfahan.
The extent of the attack was unclear.
Iranian officials said the attack was carried out by small drones, possibly launched from inside Iran, and that its radar systems had not detected unidentified aircraft entering Iranian airspace.
They said a separate group of small drones crashed in the Tabriz region.
Iranian news agencies reported that explosions were heard near both cities, adding that nuclear facilities in Isfahan were not hit.
Soon after, flight-tracking websites indicated that civilian planes had diverted their routes away from the area, and Iranian news media reported that several airports had been closed.
But within hours, Iran’s state television had broadcast footage of the resumption of normal life in Isfafan, and Iran’s aviation agency said it was lifting flight restrictions.
The Israeli military declined to comment.
All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss publicly.
Officials from the Biden administration said Israel had warned Washington earlier Thursday that an attack was coming in the next 24 to 48 hours.
A warning that came from a virtual session of the US-Israel Strategic Consultative Group that included the US national security adviser. Jake Sullivan and his Israeli counterpart, Tzachi Hanegbi, as well as Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer.
According to CNN, the Israelis assured the Americans that Iran’s nuclear facilities would not be targeted.
The explosions came less than a week after Iran fired more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel, its first direct attack on the country, in response to an Israeli attack on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria that killed seven Iranian officials on 1 april
For days, Israeli leaders have threatened to respond to Iran’s attacks, which turned the decades-long shadow war into a direct confrontation.
Iran’s army chief, Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi, said on Wednesday that Iran would respond to any Israeli aggression.
President Biden has advised Israel not to respond, amid fears that an Israeli counterattack would escalate into an all-out war.
For more than six months, Israel has been fighting on two other fronts – against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Both are allies of Iran.
