[Politics] What we know about Israel's overnight attack on Iran

[Wolf.17]

US officials say Israel hit Iran with a missile overnight on Friday, in what appears to be a retaliatory strike after weeks of escalating tensions between the two countries.

There are competing claims about the scale of the attack on the Isfahan region and the extent of any damage, with Iranian state media downplaying its significance.

It comes after weeks of soaring tensions between the regional rivals, which have already seen an Israeli attack on an Iranian compound in Syria, and Iran launch an unprecedented assault against Israel.

Here is everything we know about the latest incident so far.

How do we know there has been a strike?

Israel does not routinely confirm its military actions, which have targeted Iranian-backed armed groups in Syria and Iraq on many occasions.

However, US officials have confirmed to the BBC's partner CBS News that an Israeli missile hit Iran in the early hours of Friday.

It is unclear what type of weapons were used or where they were launched from.

US sources said a missile was involved in the attack, while Iran said it had involved small drones.

Iran's government tightly controls access to the country. The BBC does not have direct access to the central region of Isfahan, where this incident played out overnight.

What is Iran saying about the strike?

Some Iranian officials and media have confirmed there was an attempted strike but are downplaying the significance of it. There have been no reports of casualties.

Iran's Fars news agency said explosions were heard near an army base and air defence systems were activated.

A state media channel quoted a general in Isfahan as saying explosions heard in the area were "due to air defence firing at suspicious objects", and saying there had been no damage

Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency, which is close to Iran's powerful Islamic Revolution Guard Corps military wing, posted a video of a nuclear facility in Isfahan which did not show any signs it had been hit.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed there has been no damage to Iran's nuclear sites.

Hossein Dalirian, a spokesman for Iran's National Centre of Cyberspace, said there was "no air attack from outside borders".

He said Israel had "only made a failed and humiliating attempt to fly quadcopters [drones] and the quadcopters have also been shot down".

Iran imposed restrictions on commercial flights in the hours immediately after the strike but they have now been lifted.

Explosions were also reported in Iraq and Syria - where armed groups backed by Iran operate - overnight, but it is unclear if they were directly linked to the Isfahan strike.

The Syrian defence ministry said an air defence site in the south of Syria was hit by an Israeli missile in the early hours of Friday morning local time. Israel has not confirmed it was behind the strike.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68853402