Israel launches revenge attack on Iran

Israel has retaliated against Iran with reports of explosions heard and airspace closed around the city of Isfahan.

Horrifying photos show the plumes of smoke rising into the air following the strike as the targeted facilities erupt into flames.

Isfahan is home to a major airbase for Iran’s military and is associated with the country’s nuclear program, which was not believed to be the target of the attack.

Iranian state-sanctioned media revealed that no major damage from the alleged attacks occurred as they said that no important facilities near the city were “damaged significantly.”

It was later determined that the loud blast heard near Isfahan was Iranian battery defence systems firing at a “suspicious object,” the Tasnim news agency reported that a top commander said.

State media confirmed that the country’s air defence batteries were activated and fired on early Friday morning in several provinces, but did not elaborate on which ones or what specifically caused the batteries to fire – while it remains unconfirmed what the cause of the explosions was.

Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, Hossein Dalirian, a spokesperson for Iran’s civilian space program, added that several small “quadcopter” drones had been shot down.

People in the area reportedly heard the sounds of the explosions and the activation of the Iranian battery defence systems. A US official told ABC News the strikes came from Israel and were meant to target Iran. The retaliatory strike has not been officially confirmed by Israel, which declined to comment.

Commercial flights around western Iran were diverted from their routes early on Friday morning without explanation. Iranian-based Fars news agency claimed it was because “explosions” were heard over Isfahan, the city about 215 miles (350km) south of Tehran.

Source: mirror.co.uk