Israel Strikes Iran on Supreme Leader’s Birthday

Israel launched a retaliatory strike against a site in Iran early Friday morning, U.S. officials confirmed to several media outlets, though an Iranian official has downplayed the attack as a “failed and humiliating” drone strike.

The strike happened on April 19, which is the birthday of Iranian supreme leader Khamenei aged 84.

ABC News, CBS News, NPR, and others have cited unnamed U.S. officials in reporting that one or more missiles were launched by the Israeli military at Iran.

Bloomberg News reported that Israeli officials had warned U.S. officials earlier on Thursday that it planned to attack Iran in the next 24-48 hours. An unnamed senior U.S. official also told CNN that the U.S. was warned of Israel’s planned retaliatory action, a response the official said the U.S. “didn’t endorse.”

Details of the strike, including its exact location and the extent of the damage, remain unclear.

FARS, a news agency managed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, reported that explosions occurred near Isfahan—a city some 340 km away. south of Tehran that hosts key military sites, including a major airbase and nuclear facilities. It later clarified that the nuclear facility is completely safe, according to “informed sources.”

Iranian state-affiliated news agency IRNA reported that Iran’s air defence system had been activated in the skies of several provinces, following explosions heard in and around Isfahan. The source of the explosion was a “defence shot,” fired after the air defence in Tabriz, a city northwest of Isfahan, saw a “suspicious object,” IRNA reported, adding that the city was in “complete peace.”

Hossein Dalirian, an Iranian space agency spokesperson, said on X that reports of a foreign missile attack were “not true” and that it was three “micro birds” that were shot down.

The apparent Israeli retaliation comes just days after Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel over the weekend, most of which were intercepted by Israel’s defence systems as well as those of its allies and neighbours.

Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told CNN earlier on Thursday that “in case the Israeli regime embarks on adventurism again and takes action against the interests of Iran, the next response from us will be immediate and at a maximum level.”