Israel Called Launching Attack on Iran, IRNA Reports Air Defense System Activated But No Threat

Illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Zachi Evenor)

JAKARTA - Israel has carried out attacks on Iranian territory, a United States official told CNN, an action that threatens to push the region further into conflict.

"The target was not a nuclear (facility)," said the official, according to CNN, April 19.

Before Israel's strikes on Friday (local time), the US did not expect it would target civilian or nuclear facilities, another senior US official told CNN.

The Israeli military said it had "no comment at this time," when asked by CNN about reports of explosions in Iran.

As previously reported, Israel told the US its response would be limited in scope. US intelligence has suggested Israel is considering a narrow and limited strike on Iran, as it feels compelled to respond with kinetic action given the unprecedented scale of the Iranian attack.

The target range "has never been precisely determined but nuclear and civilian sites clearly do not fall into that category," the second official said.

Washington itself has urged Israel not to respond to last weekend's Iranian attacks, which President Joe Biden on Thursday called "unprecedented."

"The US has not given the green light to Israel's response," said the second official.

Meanwhile, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported that Iran's air defense system was activated in several areas as a precaution against potential air threats.

"Following the activation of air defenses in several parts of the country to deal with several possible targets, reports indicate that so far, there have been no reports of large-scale attacks or explosions caused by air threats," IRNA said early Friday local time.

Extensive checks in Isfahan, a key province that has significant nuclear facilities, showed all sensitive military and security installations remained safe and no incidents were reported.

Furthermore, IRNA said there had been no activation of the missile defense system.

Three drones "have been successfully shot down by the country's air defenses, there are no reports of missile attacks for now," the spokesman for Iran's National Cyber ​​Center, Hossein Dalirian, said on social media X.