Israel on Friday retaliated to Iran's unprecedented weekend attacks by carrying out a military strike inside the West Asian country. A US official later confirmed the Israeli military strike which has so far been played down by both the parties involved in the conflict.
CNN reported a regional intelligence source as saying that direct state-to-state strikes between Israel and Iran were "over". It also quoted an Iranian journalist as saying that at the moment, a regional war does not seem to be a possibility as the Friday attack appeared to be an attempt by Israel to save its face.
Advertisement
The New York Times reported unnamed Israeli officials as saying that today's military strike was only a limited response aimed at sending a message and avoiding an escalation in the volatile situation. Iran also gave a muted response and said its air defences intercepted three drones but no missile stike from Israel took place.
Further, Iranian media played footage of calm scenes at the sites where explosions were reported earlier today. In fact, the NYT said in its report that one of the TV news channels said the Israeli strike was "no big deal".
Advertisement
The Israeli military strike was reported at an air base near Isfahan. Iranian military officials were reported as saying that the explosions heard today were not from a missile strike but of 'flying objects' (drones) being brought down by air defence systems.
According to CNN, footage broadcast on Iranian media showed people going about their normal routine near the sites of explosions. Normal traffic was reported in Isfahan and the city's airport also resumed normal operations after being closed in the wake of the explosions.
