JERUSALEM (VINnews) — A report by the New York Times quoted US intelligence sources as saying that the attack in Isfahan on Saturday night was carried out by Israel. The report added that Israel’s attack was unrelated to Iranian weapon supplies to Russia and was intended to protect Israel’s security interests alone.
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The newspaper claimed that the Mossad was behind Saturday’s attack, which targeted a major missile production facility in the city. Iran claimed that three drones had been launched at the facility and that two of them had been successfully eliminated. Iranian TV later displayed pictures of the debris from one of the drones.
A third drone apparently made it through to strike the building, causing “minor damage” to its roof and wounding no one, according to the Iranian Defense ministry. However various other responses from Tehran indicated that the damage was more significant. Pictures from the site showed a large fire which broke out in the facility after the attack.
#BREAKING Israel is behind the attack of Isfahan's factory in Iran: WSJ pic.twitter.com/k7hSbTxa4K
— Guy Elster (@guyelster) January 29, 2023
The state-run IRNA news agency later described the drones as “quadcopters equipped with bomblets.” Quadcopters, which get their name from having four rotors, typically operate from short ranges by remote control.
The drones have been used in past attacks inside Iran, such as a June 2021 attack on a centrifuge manufacturing center in Karaj, and a February 2022 attack on a military drone storage and manufacturing facility in Kermanshah — attacks which were also attributed to Israel by several media outlets.
Sources with knowledge about details of the attack told Israeli site Walla that the attack had “been successful and achieved its goals.”
The attack, the first under the new Netanyahu government, seems to indicate a continuation of the policy of the previous government to target Iranian military facilities. Former prime minister Bennett stressed on a number of occasions that he would not coordinate Israeli strikes in Iran with the US.
“There are things you do not want to know about in advance,” Bennett told President Biden, according to a recent interview with the former prime minister.
Iran condemned the attack, calling it “cowardly,” and accused Iran’s enemies of trying to sow insecurity in the Islamic Republic.
“This cowardly act was carried out today as part of the efforts made by enemies of the Iranian nation in recent months to make the Islamic Republic insecure,” Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Sunday at a press conference.