Tehran:

Tehran is investigating a nighttime attack in Iran, Iran’s foreign minister said on Friday, adding that no link to Israel had been confirmed so far as he downplayed the attack.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told NBC News that the drone took off from Iranian territory and flew several hundred meters before being shot down.

“They…are more like toys for our kids to play with than drones,” Amirabdorashian said.

“It has not been proven to us that there is a link between these events and Israel,” he said, adding that Iran was investigating the matter but that media reports were inaccurate based on information from Tehran.

Iranian media and officials described a small number of explosions and said an air defense system hit three drones over Isfahan in central Iran early on Friday. They called the incident an “infiltrator” attack rather than an Israeli attack, making retaliation unnecessary.

Amira Abdullahian warned that if Israel retaliates and takes actions that harm Iran’s interests, Tehran will respond immediately and to the fullest extent.

“But if not, then we’re done. We’re done,” he said.

The attack appeared to target an Iranian air force base near the city of Isfahan, deep in the country, but did not hit any strategic locations or cause significant damage.

Israel has not made any comment on the incident. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States was not involved in any offensive operations, while the White House said it had no comment.

carefully planned revenge

Israel has said it would retaliate after the April 13 attack, Iran’s first direct attack on Israel, in which Israel and its allies shot down hundreds of missiles and drones and caused no fatalities.

Tehran launched the attacks in response to an alleged Israeli airstrike on April 1 that destroyed a building in the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus and killed several people, including a senior general. Iranian military officer.

Allies including the United States have been pressing all week to ensure that any further retaliation does not trigger further escalation, and Western countries have tightened sanctions on Iran to appease Israel.

Israel did not say on Friday whether it planned further action. In addition to direct attacks on Iranian territory, it has other means of attack, including cyberattacks and attacks on Iranian proxies elsewhere.

Six months of bloodshed in Gaza have come as violence by Israeli and Iranian proxies has intensified across the Middle East, raising concerns that the long-time foes’ shadow war could turn into outright conflict.

Israel’s attack on Gaza began after Hamas Islamists attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people, according to Israeli statistics. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the Israeli military offensive has killed 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza.

As night fell on Friday, Israeli planes and tanks struck several areas of the Gaza Strip and airstrikes hit the Rafah district, home to half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people, according to residents, Hamas media and officials in Hamas-controlled Gaza. The above took refuge in the Rafah area. Ministry of Health.

An attack on two apartments in a residential building in the city killed nine people, including four children, and injured several others, health officials said.

Air strikes also destroyed at least five houses in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, residents and Hamas media said.

“They (Israeli security services) called some residents and ordered them to evacuate their houses before planes bombed some nearby buildings,” Nuserat resident Abu Omar told Reuters via a chat app.

“As soon as we escaped, the explosion shook the ground,” he added.

The Israeli government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)