Isfahan-Iran-January 30, 2023

The Iranian city of Isfahan made headlines in the conflict

The Iranian-Israeli, who began to come out of his secret nature, during the past hours, after information about an attack that hit a military manufacturing center in the city located in central Iran.

The attack on the industrial complex in Isfahan, according to official Iranian data, took place on Saturday evening, specifically at 23:30 local time (about 20:00 GMT).

The official and semi-official Iranian media dealt very cautiously with the attack, publishing only the statement issued by the Ministry of defense, but it was remarkable this time, according to Western media, that Tehran did not keep quiet about the attack, and the following are the most prominent points in the Iranian official statement:

One of the defense industry complexes of the ministry in Isfahan, on Saturday evening, was subjected to an unsuccessful attack with small flying objects (parades).

The newspaper "New York Times" reported that it was Israel that carried out the attack via drones, which resulted in a large explosion in the center of the city of Isfahan on Saturday.

A report for the newspaper, co-authored by Ronen Bergman, a journalist known for his close ties to the Israeli intelligence services, said that the Israeli foreign intelligence service "Mossad" was behind the operation.

The newspaper attributed its information to high-ranking US intelligence officials familiar with the talks between Washington and Tel Aviv.

The target of the facility was unclear, nor was the damage caused by the strike, she said.

In turn, the newspaper "Wall Street Journal" quoted US officials and people familiar with the matter that the one who carried out the attack on Isfahan was Israel.

Israel's Channel 12 reported on Sunday that the attack targeted a facility for the manufacture of the Shahid 136 drone, and said:the attacking drones were launched from a nearby location by" highly professional" operators who know their target well.

The strike came at a time when the United States and Israel are holding talks to discuss new ways how to counter Iran's nuclear program and its nuclear ambitions.

It coincided with the start of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to the region, his first since Benjamin Netanyahu returned to the post of prime minister, as well as the strike occurred on the same day that the director of the CIA, William Burns, was in Israel.

Sometimes, Israel gives the United States advance warning of an attack or informs U.S. officials during the start of

The operation, but it is not clear what happened in this case, according to the "New York Times".

This is the first known Israeli attack inside Iran since Netanyahu took office about a month ago.

The attack shows the adoption of the strategy that was formed under the rule of his predecessors and rivals, Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, who expanded Israeli attacks inside Iran.

There was confusion at first, with the frequency of information about the attack, especially with reports linking the targeted facility to the manufacture of the "Shahid 136" drone, which became part of Russia's tools in the war against Ukraine.

The order came after a tweet by the adviser to the Ukrainian President, Mykhailo podolyak, in which he said that the strike in Isfahan was connected with the war in Ukraine.

Immediately, the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the Ukrainian charge d'affaires in Tehran in protest at podolyak's statement.

This opened the door to other possibilities about actors other than Israel, but US officials said, without disclosing their names, that Israel carried out the attack motivated by its security concerns and had nothing to do with what is happening in Ukraine.

A few weeks ago, US officials publicly announced that Tehran was one of the main suppliers of the drones used by Russia in the Ukraine war.

They believed that Russia was also trying to acquire Iranian missiles for use in the conflict.

The official Iranian news agency "IRNA" confirmed that the quadcopter aircraft was used in the attack