Israel accused of being behind drone attack on Iranian military installation

Israel appears to have been responsible for a drone attack on a military factory in Iran, a US official told Reuters on Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The suspicion was reinforced by the Wall Street Journal, which, in a report in which it heard from sources familiar with the episode —also not identified in the text—, points to Israelis as the perpetrators of the action.

The offensive comes at a time of concern over nuclear activity by Iran, which, on another front, is accused of supplying weapons, including long-range suicide drones, for Russia to use in Ukraine.

According to the Iranian government, a drone that aimed to hit a military installation near Isfahan was shot down, and two others were captured in defense traps. The action would have only caused damage to the roof of one of the buildings, leaving no casualties, but the extent of the damage has not been independently determined. The country’s state media broadcast scenes showing a flash and emergency vehicles.

According to a local military official, the region of the offensive indicates that the attack came from within Iran’s border. Iran has in the past accused Israel of planning attacks using individuals on Iranian soil, and in July Tehran said a group of Kurdish saboteurs serving Tel Aviv had been arrested. They planned, according to the government, to blow up a defense center in Isfahan.

Several Iranian nuclear facilities are located in the province, including Natanz, the centerpiece of Iran’s uranium enrichment program. In recent years, a series of explosions and fires have targeted military, nuclear and industrial facilities in the Persian country.

Talks between Iran and global powers to revive the 2015 nuclear deal have been stalled since September. Under the pact, abandoned by Washington under Donald Trump in 2018, Tehran agreed to limit its nuclear activity in exchange for easing sanctions imposed on the country.

The Iranian government is also facing internal turmoil. In recent months, protests have gripped the country following the death of a young Kurdish woman detained for allegedly violating the Islamic dress code.

The Israeli military declined to comment on this weekend’s case, but the country has said it is willing to strike Iranian targets if diplomacy fails to curb Tehran’s nuclear or missile programs. Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said no US military was involved in the incident and declined to comment further.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said the offensive was a cowardly attack to create insecurity and that “such actions will not impact the decision to go ahead with our peaceful nuclear work”. While the government has not named anyone responsible, state TV aired speeches by lawmaker Hossein Mirzaei, for whom there is “strong speculation” that Israel is responsible for the attack.

This would be Israel’s first attack on Iran since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power in December. Bibi’s return marked the biggest shift to the right in Israel’s history, in an alliance that has both ultranationalist parties and far-right members. When he held office for the second time, between 2009 and 2021, Israel promoted a series of attacks against Iran.

In Ukraine, which accuses Tehran of supplying Russia with hundreds of drones to strike civilian targets in cities far from the front, an aide to President Volodymyr Zelensky linked the incident to the war in the country.

“The logic of war is inexorable and murderous. It charges perpetrators and accomplices rigorously,” tweeted Mikhailo Podoliak. “Explosive night in Iran – drone and missile production, oil refinery. I warned you.”

Iran has confirmed it has sent drones to Russia, but says the equipment was sent before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine early last year. Moscow, for its part, denies that its forces use Iranian drones in Ukraine, although many of them were shot down during the conflict.