Iran-Israel war LIVE updates: Israel carried out airstrikes against Iran, ABC News reported, citing a US official. The “sounds were heard over the city” in Isfahan, adding that “several miniature UAVs were shot down,” Al Jazeera cited Mehr news agency. However, the official could not confirm whether Syria and Iraq sites were hit as well. The attack was said to be a “retaliatory strike” on Iran less than a week after Tehran’s drones and missiles attack. Following this, Iran fired air defense batteries and shut down flight operations in several cities, including Tehran, Shiraz, and Isfahan, which were later lifted.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, however, said that Tehran was investigating an overnight attack on Iran, adding that so far a link to Israel had not been proven as he downplayed the strike. Amirabdollahian told NBC News the drones took off from inside Iran and flew for a few hundred meters before being downed. Israel had said it would retaliate after a strike on April 13, the first ever direct attack on Israel by Iran, which caused no deaths after Israel and its allies shot down hundreds of missiles and drones. Tehran had launched those attacks in response to a presumed Israeli airstrike on April 1 that destroyed a building in Iran’s embassy compound in Damascus and killed several Iranian officers including a top general.
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Iran-Israel war LIVE: Israel PM Netanyahu says ‘internal discord needs to disappear now’
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who visited the Mossad headquarters (Israel’s international intelligence agency) where he met with Director David Barnea. Both spoke on importance of doing everything possible – to return the hostages home as soon as possible and of the need for unity in the country at this time of war.
“We are also committed to defeating the terrorist axis in Gaza, to freeing the hostages and to repelling the threat including that from Iran,” he added. “These are very major tasks that require two things. The first thing that it requires is determination and the second is unity.”
Speaking on internal divisions in Israel, he said, “Nations crumble, first of all, from within, not from external pressure, but from internal discord. The internal discord needs to disappear now because we are under existential threat, and in the face of an existential threat we must unite forces and not divide them.”
Iran-Israel war LIVE: Was India informed about Iran’s April 13 attack in Israel? Iranian ambassador Iraj Elahi says…
Iranian ambassador Iraj Elahi said Iran had informed a few neighbouring countries about its April 13 airstrike in Israel “to maintain the safety of passenger planes”. In an exclusive interview with the Hindustan Times, he said, “Before carrying out the attack, we had informed the neighbouring countries that were in the path of the missiles because of maintaining the safety of passenger planes.” Elahi further informed that the minister of foreign affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, had spoken with India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar after the operation in Israel.
Iran-Israel war LIVE: World leaders call for calm after reported Israeli strike on Iran
World leaders appealed for calm Friday after reported Israeli retaliation against Iran added to months of tense spillover from the war in Gaza, with Iranian state media reporting explosions in a central province. Israeli officials made no public comment on the attack and Iranian officials played down its significance. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Israeli micro-drones used in the operation had caused no deaths or damage, dismissing it as a “desperate attempt to make a victory out of their repeated defeats”.
Iran-Israel war LIVE: Explosions rock pro-Iran military base in Iraq, three injured
At least three people were injured following five explosions at a pro-Iran military base in Iraq on Saturday, CNN reported, citing a security official. However, the reason behind the explosions is not known as yet. The blasts, notably, took place at a site belonging to the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), as per Muhannad al-Anazi, a member of the Security Committee in Babylon Governorate, south of Baghdad.
Iran-Israel war LIVE: Iran warns Israel, ‘Our next response will be at maximum level if…’
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian warned on Friday that the country will respond at an immediate and “maximum level” if Israel acts against its interests. “If Israel wants to do another adventurism and acts against the interests of Iran, our next response will be immediate and will be at the maximum level, and will cause them to regret it,” Amirabdollahian said in an interview with NBC News. He added that Iran was not planning to respond unless Israel launches a significant attack. “As long as there is no new adventurism by Israel against our interests, then we are not going to have any new reactions,” Amirabdollahian was quoted as saying.
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