Israel’s strike on Iran: Mid-East may be on the brink of full-scale war
NEW DELHI: The Middle East conflict appears to be deepening fast, plunging the region into further crisis as Israel carried out a retaliatory military strike on Iran early Friday, reports quoting US officials said.
Iranian media reported that sites associated with Iran’s nuclear program were secure and officials in Iran sought to play down the strikes. So far Israel has not commented on the attack.
An Iranian official said air defences intercepted three drones and that there were no reports of a missile attack.
Speaking in Capri, Italy, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the G7 countries were “committed to de-escalating” tensions between Israel and Iran.
Meanwhile, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres has also reiterated that it is high time to stop the dangerous cycle of retaliation in the Middle East.
The Secretary-General condemns any act of retaliation and appeals to the international community to work together to prevent any further development that could lead to devastating consequences for the entire region and beyond, according to the spokesperson for the Secy-General.
According to an Iranian official, Iran activated an air defence system in the early hours of Friday after the sound of an explosion heard near a major airbase in the central province of Isfahan. Reuters quoted an Iranian source as saying that the blast prompted the activation of the air defence system. CNN also claimed that at least eight flights had to change their route in the skies over Iran.
Further, CBS News quoted unnamed US officials as saying that the Israeli regime launched at least one missile strike on Iran early Friday morning.
A senior Iranian military official in Isfahan, however, clarified the reports and Western media speculations on a relatively loud noise at 4 am local time.
Second Brigadier General Siavash Mihandoost said that the sound was heard in the east of Isfahan as the city’s air defence fired at a suspicious object.
No damage has been reported in the incident, the official added. Iranian news agency IRNA quoted its reporter’s field
investigation and said that it also showed that the city and province of Isfahan were in normal condition.
IRNA quoted Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi as having warned the regime in Israel that the tiniest act of aggression against Iranian soil will be met with a response that will make the regime and its supporters regret their action.
Referring to the weekend attack by the Iranian armed forces against the Israeli regime’s military targets, the president said that the True Promise Operation was conducted to punish the regime for its strike against the Iranian diplomatic mission in Syria on April 1.
He also said that he has told some Western states, during in-person and phone negotiations, that the era of bullying has ended and they should stop using the language of force against the Iranian nation.
Raisi noted that Iran has never left and will never leave the negotiating table over its nuclear energy program.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the president said that the world
and Islamic countries have
today realized the Islamic Republic’s rightness in defending Palestine and opposing the regime in Israel.
Analysts described the attack on Iran as “limited’’ in nature but potentially dangerous. It’s been more than six months since Hamas launched attacks on Israel and the conflict widened after Israel went to war in Gaza which still continues.
There is a considerable degree of fear that the Middle East may be bracing for an all-out war which will have serious global and regional repercussions.
