Abdelraouf Arnaout
30 January 2023•Update: 30 January 2023
JERUSALEM
The former head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, Danny Yatom, said Monday that an Iranian military facility struck by drones has been producing hypersonic missiles.
Iran said Sunday that a workshop complex in the central Isfahan province came under attack from several micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) at around 11:30 p.m. local time (2000GMT) on Saturday, but its air defenses successfully repelled them.
The cause of the incident was still unclear, with authorities saying that an investigation was underway.
Speaking to Israeli Army radio, Yatom said the facility has been used to develop hypersonic missiles.
He argued that these missiles are fast enough to the extent that advanced air defense systems may find it difficult to intercept them.
Earlier Monday, Israel officially declined to comment on the attack on the Iranian facility.
"We don't have a comment on these reports. We don't comment on Western reports," an Israeli army spokesman told Anadolu on Monday.
On Sunday, an unnamed US official on Sunday denied any US involvement in the drone attack.
“Washington had no hand in the Isfahan attack,” the official was quoted as saying by Israeli public broadcaster KAN.
Yedioth Ahronoth daily, meanwhile, quoted another unnamed US official as saying that Israel was behind the attack.
According to the newspaper, the drone attack aimed to prevent Iran from developing hypersonic missiles, probably with Russian help.
There have been a number of sabotage attacks on military facilities and nuclear plants in Iran in recent years, with Tehran mostly blaming its regional arch-foe Israel.
One of the key targets has been the Natanz nuclear plant, located some 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Isfahan.
* Writing by Ahmed Asmar
