CGTN – Israeli missiles have hit a site in Iran, ABC News reported late on Thursday, citing a U.S. official, while Iranian state media reported explosions, days after Iran launched a retaliatory missile and drone strike on Israel.
Iran’s Fars news agency reported “three explosions” were heard near the Shekari army airbase in the northwest of Isfahan Province, while Iran’s space agency spokesman Hossein Dalirian said “several” drones had been “successfully shot down.” “There are no reports of a missile attack for now,” Dalirian said on social media platform X.
Nuclear facilities in Isfahan were reported to be “completely secure,” Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported, citing “reliable sources.”
Iran suspended flights and activated its air defense system over several cities, multiple media outlets reported on Friday, citing Iran’s official news agency IRNA.
Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport was closed to all flights until 0700 GMT, according to a notice to airmen posted on a U.S. Federal Aviation Administration database.
Some Emirates and Flydubai flights that were flying over Iran early on Friday made sudden sharp turns away from the airspace, according to flight paths shown on tracking website Flightradar24.
The Israeli military told AFP: “We don’t have a comment at this time.”
Israel had said it would respond to Iran’s attack on Israel last weekend, which was a response to Israeli attacks on an Iranian consulate in Syria in early April.
Analysts and observers have been raising concerns about the risks of the Israel-Hamas conflict spreading into the rest of the region.
Iran told 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 warned that the Middle East was in a “moment of maximum peril.”
Oil prices jumped with the reports of the Israeli strike. Brent crude futures rose 2 percent to $88.86 a barrel, the dollar gained broadly, gold rose 1 percent and S&P 500 futures dropped 1 percent.
