Iran fires air defense batteries at Isfahan air base and nuclear site

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Iran fired air defenses against a major air base and nuclear site near the central city of Isfahan after detecting drones early Friday, raising fears of a possible Israeli strike in retaliation for the unprecedented attack with drones and missiles from Tehran. in the country.

It was unclear whether the country was under attack, as no Iranian official directly acknowledged the possibility and Israel’s military did not respond to a request for comment. However, tensions have remained high in the days following Saturday’s attack on Israel amid its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and its own attacks against Iran in Syria.

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Air defense batteries were fired in several provinces due to reports of drones in the air, state television reported.

In particular, IRNA said air defenses fired on a major air base in Isfahan, which has long been home to Iran’s fleet of American-made F-14 Tomcats, acquired before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Semi-official Fars and Tasnim news agencies also reported the sound of explosions, without providing a cause. State television recognized “loud noise” in the area.

Tasnim later posted a video of one of his reporters, who said he was in the southeast area of ​​Zerdenjan in Isfahan, near his “nuclear energy mountain.” The images showed two different anti-aircraft gun positions, and details in the video corresponded with known features of the site of Iran’s Uranium Conversion Facility in Isfahan.

“At 4:45 we heard gunshots. Nothing happened,” she said. “They were the air defense, these guys you’re looking at, and there too.”

The Isfahan facility operates three small research reactors supplied by China, in addition to managing fuel production and other activities for Iran’s civil nuclear program.

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Isfahan is also home to sites associated with Iran’s nuclear program, including its underground Natanz enrichment site, which has been repeatedly targeted by suspected Israeli sabotage attacks.

State television described all sites in the area as “completely safe.”

Iran’s nuclear program has advanced rapidly to produce uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels since the collapse of its atomic deal with world powers after then-President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the deal in 2018.

While Iran insists its program is for peaceful purposes, Western nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency say Tehran operated a secret military weapons program until 2003. The IAEA has warned that Iran now possesses enough enriched uranium to build several weapons. nuclear if it decides to do so. That’s right, although the US intelligence community maintains that Tehran is not actively searching for the bomb.

Dubai-based airlines Emirates and FlyDubai began diverting around western Iran at around 4:30 a.m. local time. They offered no explanation, although local warnings to airmen suggested the airspace may have been closed.

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Iran later announced it had suspended commercial flights in Tehran and areas of its western and central regions. Loudspeakers informed customers about the incident at Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran, online videos allegedly show. Iran later restored normal flight service, officials said.

Hossein Dalirian, spokesman for Iran’s civilian space program, said on social media platform X that several small “quadcopter” drones had been shot down. A state television reporter in Isfahan said the same thing in a live report, saying that “several small drones were flying in the sky over Isfahan, which they shot at.”

Meanwhile, in Iraq, where several Iranian-backed militias are based, Baghdad residents reported hearing sounds of explosions, but the source of the noise was not immediately clear.

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