Iran minister Amir-Abdollahian denies Israeli involvement in drone incident

Israel-Iran conflict: Amid ongoing tensions with Israel, Iran's foreign minister has dismissed Israel's link to the recent drone attack, citing internal origin and minimal impact

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Friday said that Tehran was investigating an overnight attack on Iran, noting that any connection to Israel had yet to be substantiated.

According to a report in Reuters, the minister said that drones took off from inside Iran and flew for a few hundred metres before being downed.

Reuters quoted Amir-Abdollahian as saying, “They’re... more like toys that our children play with, not drones.” He further said that the investigations for the attacks have not shown any link to Israel.

Officials described the attack as a limited series of explosions, attributing them to air defence systems intercepting three drones over the city of Isfahan in central Iran during the early hours of Friday. They said the attack was an assault by “infiltrators”, rather than directly implicating Israel, Reuters reported.

The assault seemed to target an Iranian Air Force base located near Isfahan, situated deep within the country, yet it avoided hitting any strategic locations or inflicting significant damage.

Amirabdollahian said that should Israel retaliate, Tehran’s next response would be swift. “If Israel wants to do another adventurism and act against the interests of Iran, our next response will be immediate and will be at the maximum level,” Amirabdollahian said.

Retaliation by Israel

On Friday morning, Israeli missiles targeted a site in Iran in response to a recent drone and missile attack launched by Iran, reportedly in retaliation against an alleged Israeli airstrike on the Iranian embassy in Syria, according to a report in ABC News.

Israel’s missile strike comes after Iran’s assault last Saturday, which involved over 300 drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles. Nearly all of these projectiles were intercepted by Israel and its allies, including the US.

Reuters reported that Tehran launched those assaults in retaliation to an assumed Israeli airstrike on April 1, which demolished a structure within Iran’s embassy complex in Damascus and resulted in the deaths of several Iranian officers, including a senior general.

Following the airstrike, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed Israel’s commitment to “do whatever is required” to protect itself. The US also reaffirmed its commitment to supporting Israel’s security. On Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged to increase diplomatic efforts against Iran.