On Thursday night, CBS News was informed by two U.S. officials that an Israeli missile had hit Iran. Less than a week had passed since Iran launched an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel in retaliation, to which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had threatened to reply.
When CBS News questioned the Israel Defense Forces about the incident, they declined to comment. U.S. officials also withheld information regarding the location and scope of the Israeli operation.
The air defense batteries fired across various regions, according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, although it didn’t say why. Iranians did report hearing explosions in multiple areas, but state media reported that the ruling High National Council of Iran had not summoned an urgent meeting and that the Iranian administration was attempting to minimize the significance of the Israeli attack.
Little drones were observed flying over a few locations in the nation, according to Iranian and state media sources who spoke with several news organizations; no mention of a missile strike was made. No early reports of damage were received.
Speaking on Friday while on a visit to the city of Damghan, which is located hundreds of kilometers north of Isfahan and east of Tehran, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi made no mention of the Israeli strike. Rather, he discussed Iran’s attack on Israel a week prior, describing it as “necessary, obligatory” and a “sign of the power of the Islamic republic and its armed forces.”
The Israeli reaction, according to a senior Israeli source who spoke with The Washington Post, “was intended to signal to Iran that Israel can attack its territory.”
An anonymous Iranian official was quoted by the Reuters news agency as claiming Tehran had no intention of retaliating against the Israeli strike.
Efraim Halevi, a former head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency and expert in Israeli intelligence, told CBS News on Friday, “I think it’s a measured response.” “It is in no way proportionate to the attack we had to deal with a couple of days ago, but it is enough to send the message to the leadership in Iran.”
Following news of the Israeli strike, Emirates and FlyDubai, two airlines based in Dubai, started rerouting flights early on Friday morning, primarily around western Iran. Although pilots received local alerts suggesting the airspace might have been closed, the carriers did not provide an explanation.