Israel carried out a strike on Iran early Friday in retaliation for a barrage of missiles and drones launched last weekend, an Israeli official said.
Explosions echoed over an Iranian city on Friday in what sources described as an Israeli attack, but Tehran played down the incident and indicated it had no plans for retaliation – a response that appeared gauged towards averting region-wide war.
It was not clear what damage the apparently limited strike caused in central Iran, but the official — who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters — said it was intended to signal to Iran that Israel has the ability to strike inside the country.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken declined to comment on whether Washington was warned about the strike, but he emphasized that “the United States has not been involved in any offensive operations.”
The limited scale of the attack and Iran’s muted response appeared to signal a successful effort by diplomats who have been working to avert all-out war since an Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel last Saturday.
Iranian state media was muted in its response to the attack, saying Iran’s air defense systems intercepted “three small drones” in Isfahan province.
There was no damage to Iran’s nuclear sites, including those in Isfahan, said the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Isfahan is the site of Iran’s largest nuclear research complex; the area is also home to a military base.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who is hosting Group of Seven foreign ministers, said United States officials were informed the last minute by Israel about the strike.
“There was no involvement on the part of the United States. It was simply information that was provided,” said Tajani.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that after phone conversations with both Iran and Israel, Moscow “conveyed to the Israelis that Iran does not want an escalation.”
At least 33,970 people have been killed,the majority of the dead are women and children, and 76,770 have been injured in Gaza since the war began, when Hamas staged a surprise attack on October 7 in retaliation for Israel’s crackdown on Muslims worshipping in a Jerusalem mosque during Ramadan last year.