US official: The drone attack on the Iranian factory appears to have been carried out by Israel

Israel appears to be behind an overnight drone attack on a military factory in Iran, a US official said on Sunday.

Iran claims to have intercepted the drones that struck the target near the central city of Isfahan and said there were no casualties or serious damage.

It was not possible to assess the extent of the damage independently. Iranian state media released a video showing a spark in the sky and emergency vehicles at the scene.

An Israeli army spokesman declined to comment. Israel has long warned that it is ready to strike Iranian targets if diplomacy fails to curb Tehran's nuclear or missile programs, but the country's authorities have a practice of refraining from commenting on specific incidents.

Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Partick Ryder said no US military forces were involved in the attacks in Iran, but declined to comment further.

Reports of US officials' statements on Israel's role in the attack were first published in the Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that it appeared Israel was involved.

Several other US officials declined to comment beyond that Washington played no role in the attack.

Tehran did not officially blame anyone for what Foreign Minister Hossen Amirabdollahian called a "cowardly" attack aimed at causing "insecurity" in Iran. But state television broadcast comments from a lawmaker, Hossein Mirzaie, saying there was "strong speculation" that Israel was behind it.

The attack comes at a time of tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran's nuclear activities and the supply of weapons to Russia in the war against Ukraine, including long-range "attack drones", as well as months of anti-government demonstrations in the country.

“Veprime të tilla nuk ndikojnë në vendosmërinë e ekspertëve tanë për të shënuar përparime në punën tonë paqësore bërthamore”, u tha gazetarëve ministri iranian i Mbrojtjes, Amirabdollahian.

Nëse konfirmohet, ky do të ishte sulmi i parë izraelit në Iran nën udhëheqjen e kryeministrit Benjamin Netanjahu, i cili u kthye në detyrë muajin e kaluar, qeveria më e djathtë në historinë izraelite.

Në Ukrainë, e cila akuzon Iranin për furnizimin e Rusisë me qindra dronë sulmues për të goditur objektivat civile, një ndihmës i lartë i presidentit Volodymyr Zelenskyy bëri një lidhje midis incidentit dhe luftës në vendin e tij.

“Natë me shpërthime në Iran. Ju kam paralajmëruar”, shkroi në Twitter, Mykhailo Podolyak.

Irani ka pranuar dërgimin e dronëve në Rusi, por thotë se ata janë dërguar para fillimit të sulmit të Moskës kundër Ukrainës vitin që shkoi. Moska kundërshton deklaratatat se ushtria e saj përdor dronë iraninaë, megjithëse shumë prej tyre janë rrëzuar dhe gjetur atje.

Bisedimet midis Iranit dhe fuqive botërore për ringjalljen e marrëveshjes bërthamore të vitit 2015 kanë ngecur që nga shtatori. Sipas marrëveshjes, nga e cila ishte tërhequr Uashingtoni më 2018 nën udhëheqjen e Presidentit të atëhershëm Donald Trump, Teherani binte dakord të kufizonte aktivitetin bërthamor në këmbim të lehtësimit të sanksioneve.

Iran's clerical rulers have also faced internal turmoil in recent months, following anti-government demonstrations sparked by the death in custody of a woman who was arrested by so-called morality police over the way she wore a headscarf. / VOA