Iran acknowledges Israel attack, says ‘sabotage’ operation failed

Iranian state media confirmed an attack by Israel in the early hours of Friday and said the “sabotage” operation involving drones had failed.

Israel launched a retaliatory strike on Iran following last week’s missile and drone barrage from Tehran, according to two US officials, though media from both countries appeared to downplay the severity of the incident.

An explosion was heard early Friday in Isfahan, Iran’s third-biggest city, Fars news agency reported. Nuclear facilities located there are safe, state television and the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said.

The Israeli government, which rarely comments on specific military actions linked to Iran, hasn’t confirmed the strike.

Flights were suspended in Isfahan and the Iranian cities of Tehran and Shiraz, as well as airports across the country’s western borders, but those restrictions were soon eased.

The incident follows days of frantic diplomacy from the US and European nations in which they tried to convince Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to respond too aggressively, if at all, to Saturday night’s Iranian attack. Their main concern is to avoid a wider war in a region already roiled by the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.