Israeli strikes hit Iran military air base near Isfahan in first retaliation

The Israeli military struck Iran early on Friday in what appeared to be Israel’s first military response to Iran’s attack on Israel five days earlier.

Iranian officials said that a strike had hit a military air base near the city of Isfahan, in central Iran, early on Friday.

The scale of the attack remains unclear.

Iranian officials said the attack was carried out by small drones, possibly launched from inside Iran, and that its radar systems had not detected unidentified aircraft entering Iranian airspace. A separate group of small drones were shot down in the region of Tabriz, roughly 500 miles north of Isfahan.

Iranian news agencies reported that explosions were heard near both cities, adding that nuclear facilities in Isfahan had not been hit.

In the immediate aftermath, flight tracking websites showed that civilian planes had diverted their routes away from the area and Iranian news outlets reported that several airports had been closed.

Iran’s state television later broadcast footage of normal life resuming in Isfahan and Iran’s aviation agency said it was lifting flight restrictions.

The Israeli military released no comment.

The explosions came less than a week after Iran fired more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel, its first direct attack on the country, in response to an Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria that killed seven Iranian officials on April 1.

Israeli leaders have threatened to respond to Iran’s strikes, which turned the years-long shadow war into a direct confrontation.

Iran’s army chief, Maj. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, said on Wednesday that Iran would respond to any Israeli aggression, according to remarks carried by the IRNA state news agency.

President Biden has advised Israel against responding, amid fears that an Israeli counterattack would escalate into an all-out war. For more than six months, Israel has been fighting on two other fronts – against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Both are allies of Iran.