Iran downplays latest Israeli strike, but issues fresh warning amid tensions

Hours after explosions echoed over Iran’s Isfahan city on Friday, in what was believed to be an Israeli attack, both sides played down the attack, signalling a step to calm tensions between both nations.

However, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Friday that Iran will respond at an immediate and “maximum level” if Israel acts against its interests. These tensions have risen since Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Iranian-backed Palestinian groups, attacked Israel on October 7. Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed proxy in Lebanon, immediately began striking Israeli targets, opening up tit-for-tat fighting along a second front, while Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, Syria and Yemen have also fired missiles and drones at Israel throughout the war.

Iran said it has no plan for immediate retaliation against Israel, as officials in Jerusalem indicated that an alleged drone attack on Isfahan city, south of Tehran, was meant to send a signal rather than cause damage. The Iranian official also cast doubt on whether Israel was behind the attack in Isfahan, despite comments from some Israeli politicians practically accepting responsibility.

Though the country planned no retaliation, Iran’s foreign minister on Friday said Tehran was investigating the strike on Isfahan city, adding that so far a link to Israel had not been proven as he downplayed the strike. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Friday that Iran will respond at an immediate and “maximum level” if Israel acts against its interests.

Amirabdollahian also told NBC News the drones took off from inside Iran and flew for a few hundred meters before being downed. “They’re… more like toys that our children play with, not drones,” Amirabdollahian said.

The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on an ally of Israel’s far-right national security minister and two entities that raised money for Israeli men accused of settler violence. The sanctions, in addition to those already imposed on five settlers and two unauthorised outposts already this year, are the latest sign of growing US frustration with the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Early on Saturday, an airstrike hit a base used by the Popular Mobilisation Forces, a coalition of Iran-allied militias in Iraq. It was not immediately clear as to who was responsible for the purported attack. However, militia officials blamed the US forces. Later, the US military denied the claims and said its forces were not behind the strike on the Iraqi military base.