Israel has conducted strikes on a target in Iran, defying President Joe Biden‘s warnings over plunging the Middle East further into conflict.
An official told ABC News that strikes hit a site in Iran, however it is unclear what exact target was hit or the extent of the damage.
Officials say the city of Isfahan in central Iran was struck at 5am local time. The city hosts one of Iran’s nuclear facilities, although US military sources reportedly said the target was not believed to be nuclear.
Iranian news outlet FARS reported that the strikes were located ‘near Isfahan Airport and the eighth hunting base of the Army Air Force.’
Iranian state news reported the nation’s air defense systems have been activated, and were firing at an unknown object in Tabriz, around 500 miles north of Isfahan.
It comes in response to Iran launching a barrage of hundreds of drones and rockets at Israel on Saturday, which was largely thwarted by Israel and its international allies. Isfahan was one of several launch sites used in the attack.
Biden had warned Israel not to retaliate to Saturday’s strikes and urged them to ‘take the win’ of the foiled Iranian attack.
Unconfirmed footage shared on social media appeared to show anti-aircraft fire striking over the city of Isfahan in central Iran, which hosts one of the nation’s nuclear facilities
Strikes have hit at least one target in Iran, US officials reportedly confirmed. The extent of the damage and exact location of the attack is unclear (unconfirmed image)
The Biden administration had stressed the need for de-escalation from Israel following Iran’s barrage of strikes on Saturday
Israeli officials warned the Biden administration of its intent to strike before launching, but an official told CNN that the US did not ‘green light’ any Israeli response.
Israeli military officials have reportedly stressed that today’s strikes were a ‘limited response’ to Iran’s attack, appearing to target military hubs used by Iran in their onslaught on Saturday.
Flights have been diverted and multiple airports in Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz have been closed following the Israeli attack, and further unconfirmed explosions have reportedly hit Iraq and Syria.
Although the US military played a central role in halting Iran’s strikes on Saturday, President Biden said he made it ‘very clear’ to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he had to act ‘carefully and strategically.’
Biden urged Netanyahu to ‘take the win’ of the derailed attack, and cautioned that the US would not participate in any Israeli counter-offensive.
The Israeli leader brushed off Biden’s warnings, insisting Israel would ‘make its own decisions’ in how to react to Iran’s attack.
US officials said there was an expectation that if Israel defied warnings, they would not target nuclear or civilian sites.
The Iranian attack came in retaliation to a suspected Israeli strike on Iran’s consulate in Syria on April 1, which killed 13 people including two generals in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard.
Following warnings over escalation in the region, Israeli Prime Minister defied Biden as he maintained that Israel would ‘make its own decisions’
As Israel maintained its plans to retaliate on Iran, a senior Iranian official warned that the nation would respond by starting production of nuclear weapons if its nuclear facilities were targeted.
Iran threatened to use ‘weapons it has never used’ if Israel struck, and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian also cautioned that Iran would strike back at the ‘maximum level’ if Israel fired.
‘In case the Israeli regime embarks on adventurism again and takes action against the interests of Iran, the next response from us will be immediate and at a maximum level,’ Amir-Abdollahian told CNN.
Amid fears over the crisis in the Middle East devolving into all-out war, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin joined calls to calm tensions when he spoke to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the Kremlin said last week.
As the West urged for calmer heads to prevail in the Jewish state, Iranian Parliament’s National Security Committee Abolfazl Amoue stated that Iran is prepared for a ‘painful response’ to the ‘slightest action.’
It was also reported on Wednesday that Iranian Navy Commander Shahram Irani has said Iran’s navy would escort its commercial ships to the Red Sea – putting Iranian warships directly on Israel’s doorstep.
The instability in the region has immediately impacted global oil markets, with brent crude prices increasing above $90 a barrel as news of the Israeli strikes emerged.
Emergency and security personnel extinguish a fire at the site of strikes which hit the Iranian embassy in Syria’s capital Damascus on April 1, which killed 13 people including two generals in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari (L) poses next to an Iranian ballistic missile which fell in Israel on the weekend, during a media tour at the Julis military base near the southern Israeli city of Kiryat Malachi on April 16, 2024
The Islamic republic, which has always insisted its nuclear program is peaceful and denies seeking an atomic bomb, has accused arch foe Israel of sabotage attacks on its facilities and assassinations of nuclear scientists in recent years.
According to Ahmad Haghtalab, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards’ head of nuclear protection and security, Iran has ‘identified’ Israeli nuclear centers and holds ‘necessary information of all targets’.
Israel is widely known to have nuclear weapons but has never admitted so.
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