The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that Israel carried out a drone attack on an Iranian military facility in Isfahan.
The Report
The US media outlet cited unnamed American officials who confirmed that Israel was behind the attack. The report noted that the attack happened as the US and Israel discussed ways to counter Iran’s accelerating nuclear programme.
If accurate, the drone strike is the Israeli military's first known attack under the new government coalition of PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Attack
Videos on social media showed a military factory being bombed during the strike. The facility is located near an Iran Space Research Centre site, which is under US sanctions for working on producing ballistic missiles.
The drone attack on an Iranian military facility in the city of Isfahan that resulted in a large explosion was the work of the Israeli Mossad reports @ronenbergman. Isfahan is a major center of missile production, research and development for Iran, ipic.twitter.com/JVz3Pb6yrB
— Adam Milstein (@AdamMilstein) January 30, 2023
Top-level sources told Barak Ravid, diplomatic correspondent for Axios, that the strike was “specific, surgical, and successful” and four different areas in the building “were accurately targeted and the goal was achieved.” According to the sources, the facility was connected to Tehran’s nuclear programme.
Moreover, Israel’s Channel 12 news reported that the site was a weapons production facility for the Shahed-136 kamikaze drones, which Iran has allegedly been selling to Russia to use in the Ukraine war.
As per the New York Times, the attack was carried out by agents of Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, Mossad.
Iran’s Response
Tehran dismissed reports that the strike was successful, stating that its air defences successfully thwarted the drone attack. Iran’s state-owned IRNA news agency quoted the Defence Ministry as saying that air defence systems repelled three Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAV), with one falling and hitting the roof of the facility.
Calling the strike a “cowardly attack,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told reporters that it was an attempt by Iran’s enemies to make Tehran insecure. “Such measures cannot affect the will and intention of our specialists for peaceful nuclear developments,” he emphasised.
Israeli Attacks
Israel considers Iran’s nuclear programme an “existential threat,” citing remarks made by top Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, to “annihilate” Israel.
Israeli officials have urged the West against reviving the 2015 nuclear deal and repeatedly threatened to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities.
Israel is also believed to be behind the assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists, including nuclear chief Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in 2020. In 2021, Iran accused Israel of sabotaging its Natanz nuclear facility.