The UN Calls on All Parties to Restraint After Drones Hit Iranian Military Facilities

Serpihan drone yang diduga untuk menyerang fasilitas militer Iran di Isfahan. (Twitter/@imp_navigator)

JAKARTA - The United Nations (UN) on Monday called for all parties to exercise restraint, after a drone attack on an Iranian weapons factory in the central city of Isfahan.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, urged all parties to refrain from any escalatory actions, respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries.

"The UN Secretary General is following with concern reports of incidents over the weekend in Iran," Dujarric said as quoted by The National News, January 31.

So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the drone attack.

Earlier, Iran's Defense Ministry said two drones were shot down, while another caused damage to the roof of the factory.

Meanwhile, Iran's official Irna news agency reported on Sunday that the drone was aimed at an ammunition factory and was successfully intercepted by an air defense system.

Separately, citing unidentified US officials and sources, The Wall Street Journal reported Israel was behind the drone attack.

"In the previous administration in Israel, we saw attacks on Iranian ministry facilities and military personnel," said Ali Vaez, who heads the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group.

"This is basically the Netanyahu Administration returning to the same policies," he continued.

It is known, the attack occurred when the Secretary of State of the United States Antony Blinken was visiting the Middle East, including Israel.

Secretary of State Blinken avoided questioning the attack, but said the US was supporting Israel in its defense against Iran.

"Iran is a threat not only to Israel in the region, but also to the world, as we have seen recently, in supplying drones to Russia to continue its war of aggression in Ukraine," said Foreign Minister Blinken.

Meanwhile, David Makovsky, director of the Project on Arab-Israeli Relations at the Washington Institute said the strikes were "a function of the belief that Iran is making progress in terms of missiles and drones, and I think they probably felt the timing was right."

Iranian TV showed the remains of small drones that were used to attack one of the workshops of the Ministry of Defense in Isfahan. As we can see, the building really didn't receive serious damage, and it was indeed covered with a special mesh to protect against such small drones pic.twitter.com/0QAUG9Nc6b

— Yuri Lyamin (@imp_navigator) January 29, 2023