Israeli missiles struck a location in Iran according to a US official cited by ABC News on Thursday night. This occurred shortly after Iran carried out a drone strike on Israel in retaliation for an attack near the Iranian embassy in Syria.
Iran’s Fars news agency reported that an explosion was heard at an airport in the Iranian city of Isfahan, but the cause was not immediately determined. Isfahan province houses several Iranian nuclear facilities, including Natanz, which is crucial to Iran’s uranium enrichment efforts.
Numerous flights were redirected away from Iranian airspace, CNN said.
Iran responded to a suspected Israeli strike on its embassy compound in Syria over the weekend by launching hundreds of drones and missiles in a retaliatory attack.
The majority of the drones and missiles were intercepted and destroyed before they could reach Israeli territory.
Iran informed the United Nations Security Council on Thursday that Israel “must be compelled to stop any further military adventurism against our interests” as the UN Secretary-General cautioned that the Middle East was in a “moment of maximum peril.”
Israel had stated its intention to retaliate against Iran’s missile and drone attack on April 13.
Analysts and observers have voiced concerns about the potential for the Israel-Gaza conflict to escalate and impact the wider region.
After the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people, according to Israeli estimates, Israel launched its offensive on Gaza. According to the local health ministry, approximately 33,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza as a result of Israel’s military onslaught.
Iran-backed factions have expressed solidarity with the Palestinians, initiating assaults from Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq.