Two U.S. officials confirmed that an Israeli missile hit Iran on Friday.
The strike follows last weekend’s retaliatory drone and missile attacks against Israel, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed to respond to.
Officials were tightlipped about the location or extent of the Israeli strike. When reached by CBS News, the Israel Defense Forces had no comment on the attack.
The Iranian state-run IRNA news agency said air defense batteries fired across several provinces. It did not elaborate on what caused the batteries to fire, though people across the area reported hearing the sounds.
In particular, IRNA said air defenses fired at a major air base in Isfahan, which long has been home to Iran’s fleet of American-made F-14 Tomcats — purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The semiofficial Fars and Tasnim news agencies also reported the sound of blasts, without giving a cause. State television acknowledged “loud noise” in the area.
Isfahan also is home to sites associated with Iran’s nuclear program, including its underground Natanz enrichment site, which has been repeatedly targeted by suspected Israeli attacks. However, state television described all sites in the area as “fully safe.”
Dubai-based carriers Emirates and FlyDubai began diverting around western Iran about 4:30 a.m. local time. They offered no explanation, though local warnings to aviators suggested the airspace may have been closed.
Iran later announced it grounded commercial flights in Tehran and across areas of its western and central regions. Loudspeakers informed customers of the incident at Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran, online videos purported to show.
Iran later lifted flight restrictions across the country, paving the way for the resumption of regular flights in all its airports.
Earlier, Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard, reported that the country’s civil aviation authority announced the lifting of flight restrictions in most airports.
Entekhab News also reported that flights are back to normal at Tehran’s main domestic airport, Mehrabad.
Global oil and gold prices have jumped, while shares have slumped after US officials said an Israeli missile had struck Iran.
In Asia on Friday, Brent crude oil was trading around 2.5% higher at close to $90 a barrel, while gold was close its record high above $2,400 an ounce.
Benchmark stock indexes in Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea also fell after the news.
Investors have been closely watching Israel’s reaction to Iran’s drone and missile attack on the country last weekend.
They are concerned that a worsening conflict in the Middle East could disrupt oil supplies.
Oil price fluctuations can cause ripple effects across the world due to countries being heavily reliant on the commodity, which is used to produce fuels such as petrol and diesel.
Fuel and energy prices have been a major driver behind the higher cost of living worldwide in the past couple of years.
Gold is often seen as a safe investment at times of uncertainty.
Heightened tensions in the Middle East have already affected shipping through the Strait of Hormuz between Oman and Iran.
It is a crucial shipping route, as about 20% of the world’s total oil supply passes through it.
Members of the oil producers’ cartel Opec – Saudi Arabia, Iran, the UAE, Kuwait and Iraq – send most of the oil they export through the Strait.
Iran is the seventh largest oil producer in the world, according to the US Energy Information Administration, and the third-largest member of Opec.
Iran last weekend launched an unprecedented retaliatory strike against Israel in response to a deadly attack on an Iranian consulate in Syria, which killed seven officers, including two generals, from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Iran’s attack on Israel included 170 drones, over 30 cruise missiles and 120 ballistic missiles, according to the IDF and U.S. officials. None of the drones crossed into Israeli territory before they were shot down by Israel and its allies, including the U.S., the IDF said.
Five of the ballistic missiles struck Israel, with four of them hitting Israel’s Nevatim Air Base, where Israeli F-35s are based, U.S. officials told CBS News. The officials believe the base was likely Iran’s primary target, as the strike against the consulate in Syria is believed to have been carried out by an F-35.
The U.S. and other allies of Israel have urged Netanyahu to exercise restraint in any possible response to Iran. U.S. officials have said the country would not participate in any Israeli retaliatory strike.
In the aftermath of Iran’s attack, which the IDF said caused “very little damage,” President Biden pressed the Israeli prime minister, “to think about what that success says all by itself to the rest of the region,” according to National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.
By Agencies
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