NEW YORK TIMES REPORTS IRANIAN AIR BASE STRUCK IN ISRAELI ATTACK

New York Times Reports Iranian Air Base Struck in Israeli Attack

Iranian TV says nuclear sites undamaged in reported attack after announcing that air defenses had been activated

April 19th, 06AM April 19th, 07AM

Iran fired air defense batteries early Friday morning as explosions could be heard near a major air base near Isfahan, raising fears of a possible Israeli strike following Tehran's unprecedented drone-and-missile assault on the country.

The New York Times quoted three Iranian officials as saying that a strike had hit an air base near the city, and two Israeli defense officials as saying that Israel was behind the strike.

Israeli's Home Front Command has not announced any changes in its instructions to the public. Iranian TV reported that three drones had been successfully destroyed above Isfahan.

The city is considered strategically important for Iran and its nuclear program. It contains military bases and research and development centers. Isfahan also is home to sites associated with Iran's nuclear program, including its underground Natanz enrichment site, which has been repeatedly targeted by suspected Israeli sabotage attacks. However, state television described all sites in the area as "fully safe," and a U.S. official told CNN that the strike had not targeted them.

However, Iranian officials said that nothing unusual had occurred in the skies above Isfahan and that reports of a strike in Iran was nothing more than Israeli and American media propaganda. They also denied that its Supreme National Security Council had convened an emergency meeting. State TV said nothing was amiss in the city and that any contrary report was false.

The semiofficial Fars and Tasnim news agencies reported the sound of blasts, without giving a cause. State television acknowledged "loud noise" in the area.

Dubai-based carriers Emirates and FlyDubai began diverting around western Iran about 4:30 A.M. local time. They offered no explanation, though local warnings to aviators suggested the airspace may have been closed.

Iran later announced it grounded commercial flights in Tehran and across areas of its western and central regions. Loudspeakers informed customers of the incident at Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran, online videos purported to show.

Iranian state television began a scrolling, on-screen alert acknowledging a "loud noise" near Isfahan, without immediately elaborating.

Hossein Dalirian, a spokesman for Iran's civilian space program, said on the X social media platform that several small "quadcopter" drones had been shot down. It wasn't immediately clear where that happened or if it was part of the ongoing incident in Iran.

Meanwhile in Iraq, where a number of Iranian-backed militias are based, residents of Baghdad reported hearing sounds of explosions, but the source of the noise was not immediately clear.

2024-04-19T03:24:13Z dg43tfdfdgfd