Iranian officials claim that the country was not the target of a “foreign aerial attack,” as a dispute erupted inside Israel about whether Iran has faced sufficient punishment for last week’s missile attack.
“No foreign aerial attack has been carried out so far against Isfahan or other areas of the country,” Iranian Space Agency spokesman Hossein Dalirian wrote Friday on social media, adding that air defense systems shot down a number of small drones.
In the complex symbology of military retaliation and diplomatic communication, an Israeli drone attack orchestrated from inside Iran would be considered a less significant operation than an airstrike conducted from Israeli territory. So Iran’s public posture would suggest that the regime aims to avoid a continuance of the direct attacks that have raised, in recent days, the specter of a regional war.
“The sound was related to Isfahan’s air defense systems firing at suspicious objects and we have not had any damage or accident,” Iranian Army Gen. Siavash Mihandoost said Friday, per the Tehran Times.
That is a placid tone, relative to the range of possibilities that came into view Thursday evening when reports of explosions at Isfahan and other cities associated with Iran’s nuclear program made international headlines. An American official revealed that the Israelis “target[ed] an air defense radar site near Isfahan that’s part of the protection of the Natanz nuclear facility,” according to ABC, but Secretary of State Antony Blinken avoided even acknowledging that Israel conducted an operation.
“I’m not going to speak to that, except to say that the United States has not been involved in any offensive operations,” Blinken told reporters in Italy. “You saw Israel on the receiving end of an unprecedented attack, but our focus has been on, of course, making sure that Israel can effectively defend itself, but also de-escalating tensions, avoiding conflict. And that remains our focus.”
Israeli officials, for their part, have signaled that they designed the strike to send a pointed message about Iranian vulnerability without inflicting the kind of damage that would necessitate a major response. The operation was designed to communicate that “we chose not to hit your nuclear sites this time, but we could have done worse right here,” an Israeli source told the Jerusalem Post.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced pressure from President Joe Biden and other U.S. allies who argued that Israel need not retaliate against the Iranian strike, given the success of a multinational effort to intercept the bombardment. Netanyahu maintained that Israel would have to respond to avoid setting a precedent in which Iran can launch direct attacks on Israel with impunity, but a hard-right Israeli politician denounced the overnight explosions as a weak response.
“Lame!” Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote on social media.
Ben-Gvir, a lightning rod in Israel and around the world for his harsh treatment of Palestinian prisoners and stated desire to drive Palestinians out of Gaza, wanted Netanyahu to authorize a “crushing attack” on Iran. His criticism outraged other Israeli lawmakers, who faulted him for simultaneously undercutting Israel’s plausible deniability and mocking the operation.
“Never before has a minister done such heavy damage to the country’s security, its image, and its international status,” Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote on social media. “In an unforgivable tweet of one word, Ben Gvir managed to sneer and shame Israel from Tehran to Washington.”
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Iran’s top diplomat claimed that Israeli officials are attempting “to make victory” out of a harmless strike.
“The Zionist regime’s media supporters, in a desperate effort, tried to make victory out of their defeat, while the downed mini-drones have not caused any damage or casualties,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told diplomats in New York.