Israel Airstrikes Target Iran Near Nuclear Development Region

Details are still scarce, but Iran and the United States have both confirmed that Israel forces launched missile strikes on Iranian soil yesterday morning, local time.

Israeli Defense Forces also reportedly fired additional air raids on several Syrian military sites and within Iraq.

The attacks were in direct response to Iran’s measured attacks on multiple Israeli targets through the night of April 13-14. After investigation, those appear to experts to have been more about analyzing Israel’s military defenses and testing some of Iran’s most advanced missiles, as opposed to design to cause major damage or human harm.

The Iranian aerial assault was in response to Israel blowing up the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, on April 1, and intentionally killing at least three of Iran’s generals as part of the process.

How much damage was caused in Israel’s volleys yesterday is still unclear. Iran reported some of Israel’s munitions blew up in the airspace above an airfield nearby Isfahan.

Isfahan, also sometimes spelled Esfahan, and located about 300 miles due south of Iran’s capital city of Tehran, is the reported headquarters for the country’s Nuclear Technology/Research Center in Isfahan. This site was in the past the largest nuclear development hub in the country, employing more than 3,000 scientists and researchers. It may still be the biggest center for this type of development, but after multiple Israeli attacks via its Mossad forces on leaders of the program and facilities there during the last decade, and after Iran halted allowing UN inspectors to visit the facilities when the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement was voided by Donald Trump in 2018, it is likely Iran will have distributed the work to multiple centers as a protective measure.

Neither Israel, the U.S., nor Iran has commented much about yesterday’s raid or how much damage was caused.

Iranian state media yesterday released a statement saying only that their air defenses successfully intercepted three “small drones” during the airstrike. It also said the strike produced little to no damage.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), an independent organization which has been monitoring Iran’s nuclear program, said it believed none of Iran’s nuclear sites were struck during the air raids. Iran claims that all of its nuclear R&D is for peaceful purposes and that it is not making nuclear weapons. 

An unnamed Israeli official, speaking on conditions of anonymity, said about the strikes only that they happened and were in response to Iran’s launch of hundreds of drones and missiles on Israel on April 13-14.

Just before the attacks Iranian senior officials warned Israeli that any counterstrikes like just happened would be dealt with swiftly and with harsher consequences for the country.

With little information about what really happened in these Israeli airstrikes yesterday, including if people were killed and how much damage was caused, it is unclear whether Israel is finished with its military strikes, or if Iran will escalate the war further. However, as of today, Iran has chosen to laugh off the attacks from Israel as insignificant and is not planning to retaliate.