Syed Zafar Mehdi
19 April 2024•Update: 19 April 2024
TEHRAN, Iran
Sounds of heavy explosions were heard in at least two Iranian cities in the wee hours of Friday morning amid an alleged Israeli attack inside Iran.
Iranian authorities, however, downplayed the incidents and said the sound of explosions in the central Iranian city of Isfahan and the northwestern city of Tabriz was the result of Iranian air defense systems firing at “suspicious objects”, as reported by state media.
Officials insisted that all military and nuclear facilities located in and around the city of Isfahan were safe and no damage had been caused.
Iran’s space agency spokesman Hossein Dalirian in a post on X said there was “no air attack from outside” of Iranian borders in Isfahan or other parts of the country.
Dalirian termed it a “failed attempt” to fly quadcopters that he said were “shot down.”
Earlier, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported three explosions in the vicinity of the Isfahan airport and the 8th Shekari Army Airbase.
US media cited officials as saying that they had received pre-notification of Israel’s reported strike on Iran while adding that they had no role to play in it.
CNN cited one official as saying that the target was a nuclear facility.
Pertinently, the Natanz nuclear facility is close to the city of Isfahan, which has been subject to several sabotage attacks in recent years.
Iranian media reported that the situation was “normal” in Isfahan after the Friday morning incidents, insisting that no explosions “on the ground” had taken place.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, whose inspectors are stationed at Iranian nuclear facilities, including in Isfahan, also confirmed that no damage was caused.
Immediately after the reports of the explosions, flights to the cities of Isfahan and Shiraz from Tehran were suspended by the country’s airport authority.
The flights later resumed at the Imam Khomeini International Airport and Mehrabad International Airport, according to the Iran Airports and Air Navigation Company.
The explosions came amid heightened tensions between arch-foes Iran and Israel after Saturday’s unprecedented attack by Tehran involving hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel, which Iran said was in response to the April 1 attack on the Iranian Consulate in Syria.
Israel has vowed a military response to the Iranian weekend attack despite many Western countries urging restraint and de-escalation of tensions.
Amid speculation of an Israeli attack, a senior Iranian commander warned on Thursday that the country would reconsider its nuclear doctrine if Israel attacks its nuclear facilities.
Brigadier General Ahmed Haqtalab, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in charge of the protection of nuclear centers, said Israel will "definitely face response" in the form of attacks on Israeli nuclear centers if attacked.
