Iran fires air defenses; explosions near Isfahan

Iran fired air defense batteries early today as e xplosions could be heard near a major air base near Isfahan, raising fears of a possible Israeli strike after Tehran’s unprecedented drone and missile assault on the country.

It r emained unclear if the country was under attack, as no Iranian official directly acknowledged the possibility and Israel’s military did not respond to a request for comment. However, tensions h ave remained high in the days since the Saturday assault on I srael amid its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and its own strikes targeting Iran in Syria.

One Iranian government official and later Iran’s state- run television broadcaster suggested sites may have been targeted by drones.

IRNA said the defenses fired across several provinces. It did not elaborate on what caused the batteries to fire, although people across the area reported hearing the sounds.

In particular, IRNA said air defenses fired at a major air base in Isfahan, which long has been home to Iran’s fleet of Americanmade F- 14 Tomcats — purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The semiofficial Fars and Tasnim news agencies also reported the sound of blasts, without giving a cause. State television acknowledged “loud noise” in the area.

Isfahan also is home to sites associated with Iran’s nuclear program, i ncluding i ts u nderground Natanz enrichment site, which repeatedly has been targeted by suspected Israeli sabotage attacks. However, state television described all sites in the area as “fully safe.”

Dubai- based carriers Emirates and Flydubai began diverting around western Iran about 4: 30 a . m. local time. They o ffered no explanation, although local warnings to aviators suggested t he a irspace may have been closed.

Iran l ater a nnounced i t grounded c ommercial flights in Tehran and across a reas of its western and central regions. Loudspeakers informed customers of the incident at Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran, online videos purported to show.

Iranian state television b egan a scrolling, on- screen alert acknowledging a “loud noise” near Isfahan, without immediately elaborating.

Hossein Dalirian, a spokesman for Iran’s civilian space program, s aid on t he X social media platform t hat several small “quadcopter” drones had been s hot down. A state television reporter in Isfahan said the same i n a live report, saying “several small drones were flying over Isfahan.