Middle East Heats Up
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Iran informs the United Nations that Israel was responsible for the weekend drone attack on its military facility as the Gaza strip comes under Israeli fires
Iran blamed Israel for a drone attack on a military factory near the central city of Isfahan, the semi-official ISNA news agency said on Thursday, vowing revenge for what appeared to be the latest episode in a long-running covert war.
An Elbit Systems Ltd. Hermes 900 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is seen at the company’s drone factory in Rehovot, Israel, June 28, 2018. REUTERS/Orel Cohen
The attack came amid tension between Iran and the West over Tehran’s nuclear activity and its supply of arms – including long-range “suicide drones” – for Russia’s war in Ukraine, as well as months of anti-government demonstrations at home.
In a letter to the U.N. chief, Iran’s U.N. envoy, Amir Saeid Iravani, said “primary investigation suggested Israel was responsible” for Saturday night’s attack, which Tehran had said caused no casualties or serious damage.
“Iran reserves its legitimate and inherent right to defend its national security and firmly respond to any threat or wrongdoing of the Zionist regime (Israel) wherever and whenever it deems necessary,” Iravani said in the letter.
“This action undertaken by the Zionist regime (Israel) goes against international law.”
Arch-foe Israel has long said it is willing to strike Iranian targets if diplomacy fails to curb Tehran’s nuclear or missile programmes, but does not comment on specific incidents.
Israeli armed drones use gravity bombs that produce no noise or smoke as they fall, making them hard for enemies to anticipate or evade, and the largest model of the aircraft can carry up to a tonne of munitions, the military says.
After more than two decades of secrecy, Israel in July went public with the existence of armed drones in its arsenal. In November, an Israeli general detailed the two corps – air force and artillery – that operate the systems in combat.
Such drones are remote-piloted, dropping bombs or carrying out surveillance before returning to base. They are distinct from the kamikaze drones that Iran said were used in a weekend attack on a defence plant in Isfahan – an incident on which Israel has declined to comment.
The Iranian diplomat also condemned a Ukrainian official for their remarks about the attack. Mikhail Podoliak, an aide to President Vladimir Zelensky, framed the incident as retaliation for what Kiev claims to be assistance provided by Iran to Russia in the conflict with Ukraine.
“War logic is inexorable and murderous. It bills the authors and accomplices strictly,” Podoliak said, adding that Ukraine “did warn you.”
Iravani reiterated that Iran was not involved in the Ukraine crisis and said any statements condoning attacks on Iranian infrastructure were “irresponsible.”
According to ISNA, Iranian specialists analyzed the debris of drones used in the attack and identified the producer. They reportedly found clues after comparing the aircrafts’ body, engines, power supply and navigation system to samples at their disposal.
The Iranian military will use the new information to improve security at its installations, the outlet said, citing a source close to the national security council.
Talks between Iran and world powers to revive a 2015 nuclear deal have stalled since September. Under the pact, abandoned by Washington in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump, Tehran agreed to limit nuclear work in return for easing of sanctions.
In July, Tehran said it had arrested a sabotage team of Kurdish militants working for Israel who planned to blow up a “sensitive” defence industry centre in Isfahan.
“The equipment and explosives used in the Isfahan attack were transferred into Iran with the help of anti-revolutionary groups based in Iraq’s Kurdistan region under orders by a foreign security service,” Iran’s Nournews said on Wednesday.
Several nuclear sites are located in Isfahan province, including Natanz, the centrepiece of Iran’s uranium enrichment programme, which Iran accuses Israel of sabotaging in 2021. There have been a number of explosions and fires around Iranian military, nuclear and industrial sites in recent years.
In a related development, Israeli aircraft struck in Gaza on Thursday in response to Palestinian rocket fire, days after the United States urged all sides to calm escalating violence.
With no reports of serious casualties, the exchange followed a familiar pattern that signalled neither side was seeking a wider conflict.
Separately, Israel, which collects taxes on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA), would use 100 million shekels ($29.38 million) from PA funds to compensate victims of Palestinian militant attacks, against stipends the PA pays to assailants’ families, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said.
The military said its air strikes targeted rocket and weapon production sites used by Hamas, the Islamist militant group that controls the blockaded strip, in response to Wednesday’s rocket launch.
No Palestinian groups claimed Wednesday’s rocket fire. An unverified video circulating on social media appeared to show three rockets before launch, one of which said “female prisoners are a red line”.
Powerful explosions shook buildings and lit up the night sky over Gaza as warning sirens sounded in Israeli towns and villages around the strip warning of incoming rocket fire before dawn on Thursday.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged calm on wrapping up a visit to the region on Tuesday, in which he reaffirmed Washington’s support for a two-state solution to the decades-long conflict.
Source Reuters/ISNA/RT
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