Iran fires air defense batteries in provinces as sound of explosions ...

Israeli missiles have hit a site in Iran, beginning a counter-attack after Iran fired dozens of missiles at Israel, a United States official has reportedly said.

The Israeli military struck Iran, according to two Israeli defence officials, the New York Times reports. It appeared to be Israel’s first military response to Iran’s attack on Israel five days earlier.

Three Iranian officials confirmed to the New York Times a strike had hit a military air base near the city of Isfahan, in central Iran, early on Friday, but did not say which country had mounted the attack.

Iranian officials have denied the blasts were a missile attack on Iran, telling Reuters an explosion heard in Isfahan was a result of the activation of Iran’s air defence system.

ABC News earlier reported a US official had confirmed the strike, but cannot confirm whether Syria and Iraq sites were hit as well, amid reports of ‘explosions’ over the city of Isfahan.

Senior Iranian officials reported overnight blasts at a military base near the city of Isfahan. The explosions came after Israel vowed retaliation for Iran’s first-ever direct strike on the country.

World stock markets fell by around 1 per cent and oil prices spiked by 4 per cent on the news.

Australia has told its citizens to leave Israel and Palestinian territories if it’s safe to do so.

Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB is downplaying the reports of an attack, BBC reports.

Days ago, New Zealand joined calls for Israel not to escalate tensions with Iran.

Winston Peters told RNZ at the time, “This is no time for escalation, it is time for calmness and to realise that no one’s going to be a winner here, it’s just going to get worse.”

STORY CONTINUES AFTER LIVE BLOG

STORY CONTINUES

ran fired air defenses at a major air base and a nuclear site near the central city of Isfahan after spotting drones early Friday morning, raising fears of a possible Israeli strike in retaliation for Tehran’s unprecedented drone-and-missile assault on the country.

It remained unclear if 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 since the early Saturday assault on Israel amid its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and its own strikes targeting Iran in Syria.

US officials declined to comment as of early Friday, but American broadcast networks quoting unnamed US officials said Israel carried out the attack. The New York Times quoted anonymous Israeli officials claiming the assault.

Air defence batteries fired in several provinces over reports of drones being in the air, state television reported.

IRNA said the defences fired across several provinces. It did not elaborate on what caused the batteries to fire, though people across the area reported hearing the sounds.

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

The semiofficial Fars and Tasnim news agencies also reported the sound of blasts, without giving a cause. State television acknowledged “loud noise” in the area.

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

“At 4:45, we heard gunshots. There was nothing going on,” he said. “It was the air defense, these guys that you’re watching, and over there too.”

The facility at Isfahan operates three small Chinese-supplied research reactors, as well as handling fuel production and other activities for Iran’s civilian nuclear program.

Isfahan also is 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 atomic sites in the area as “fully safe.”

Iran’s nuclear program has rapidly advanced to producing enriched uranium at nearly weapons-grade levels since the collapse of its atomic deal with world powers after then-President Donald Trump withdrew America from the accord 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 holds enough enriched uranium to build several nuclear weapons if it chose to do so — though the US intelligence community maintains Tehran is not actively seeking the bomb.

Dubai-based carriers Emirates and FlyDubai began diverting around western Iran about 4:30 am local time. They offered no explanation, though local warnings to aviators suggested the airspace may have been closed.

The semiofficial Fars news agency reported explosions over Isfahan near its international airport. It offered no explanation for the blast. However, Isfahan is home to a major airbase for the Iranian military, as well as sites associated with its nuclear program.

Iran later announced it grounded commercial flights in Tehran and across areas of its western and central regions. Loudspeakers informed customers of the incident at Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran, online videos purported to show. Iran later restored normal flight service, authorities said.

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

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

Isfahan is about 350 kilometres south of Iran’s capital, Tehran.

MORE TO COME