Israel-Iran strikes, as it happened: Explosions in Iran amid heightened tensions in Middle East

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Please read this round-up of the full story by Matt Knott...

Iran activated its air defence batteries across several provinces after an apparent Israeli drone strike near the central city of Isfahan on Friday, prompting fears of an escalating tit-for-tat conflict between two of the Middle East’s biggest military powers.

Explosions were heard near a major air base and nuclear research site, prompting the Albanese government to urge both Iran and Israel to show restraint to avoid an all-out regional war with potentially devastating consequences.

As international airlines scrambled to re-route passenger flights following the reported explosions, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) responded by warning Australians against travelling to Israel and the Palestinian territories because of the risk of further attacks.

World leaders are now anxiously waiting to see whether Iran will launch its own retaliatory strikes, or seek to dial back hostilities to avoid the risk of a broader conflagration.

More here...

A quadcopter

The details remain hazy, but Qatar-backed network Al Jazeera notes that: “Iranian media said no strikes were launched on Iran from outside the country, and the attack was believed to have been carried out using small quadcopters that would have to have been launched from inside Iran”.

Forbes reports that this would not be the first use of armed quadcopters by Israel against Iran.

“Israel is widely believed to have used small quadcopter drones against one of Iran’s ‘workshop sites’ in Isfahan in January 2023.”

“In February 2022, Israel sent six of these quadcopter drones into Iran for an attack on a drone manufacturing facility near Iran’s western city of Kermanshah, destroying several Iranian drones,” Forbes reported.

Speculating on the rationale behind the Israeli attack, one US general suggested Tel Aviv was trying to signal its capability to hurt Iran.

By aiming at the Iranian province of Isfahan, which houses some of Iran’s nuclear facilities, Israel was likely trying to signal it could overwhelm Iran’s defences, retired Major General Mark MacCarley told CNN.

“I think that there was a very deliberate thought process on the part of the Israeli war cabinet,” he said.

Israel needed to show strength and show that it could project power into Iran’s sensitive region. At that same time Israel, contending with a spiralling conflict in Gaza and worsening security situation in general, doesn’t want to further expand hostilities with Iran.

“Israelis had to retaliate, but at the same time, within that retaliation was a message, and that is, ‘Yes, we can get through. Don’t do it again. If you do it again, then all heck will break out’,” he told the network.

Israel carried out a missile strike targeting an air defence unit in Syria’s south and causing material damage, Syria’s state-run SANA news agency quoted a military statement as saying on Friday.

The warplanes were seen around the time loud noises and drones were reported near a major Iranian air base and nuclear site. That area of Syria is directly west of Isfahan, some 1500 kilometres away east of Israel.

Iran fired air defence batteries early on Friday and some flights were diverted or grounded after reports of explosions near a major airbase and nuclear site where drones were spotted.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken didn’t comment on the latest Middle East developments as he arrived for the final session of a Group of Seven foreign ministers’ meeting in Capri, Italy, on Friday.

AP

Thank you for following our live coverage of the unfolding situation in Iran today. I am Jewel Topsfield and will now hand over to my colleague, Chris Zappone.

But first, here is a recap of what we know so far:

• Iran fired air defences at a major air base and a nuclear site near the central city of Isfahan after spotting drones early Friday morning.
• The apparent Israeli strike prompted fears of an escalating conflict
• Iran’s government and the Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
• DFAT urged Australians in both Israel or the Occupied Palestinian Territories to leave if safe to do so.
• The International Atomic Energy Agency says there has been no damage to Iran’s nuclear sites.

The US has vetoed a widely backed UN resolution that would have paved the way for Palestine to achieve full membership of the United Nations, a goal the Palestinians have long sought and which Israel has worked to prevent.

The vote in the 15-member Security Council ended with 12 in favour, the US opposed and two abstentions, from the United Kingdom and Switzerland. US allies France, Japan and South Korea supported the resolution.

Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour speaks during a Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters.Credit: AP

The strong support the Palestinians received reflects not only the growing number of countries recognising their statehood but almost certainly the global support for Palestinians facing the humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Gaza, now in its seventh month.

The resolution by the council would have recommended that the entire 193-member UN General Assembly, where there are no vetoes, approve Palestine becoming the 194th member of the United Nations. Some 140 countries have already recognised Palestine, so its admission would have been approved, probably by a much higher number of countries.

Read more here.

The International Atomic Energy Agency says there has been no damage to Iran’s nuclear sites after the apparent Israeli strike on Friday.

In a post on X, the IAEA said it was monitoring the situation very closely.

The IAEA said its Director General, Rafael Mariano Grossi, continued to call for extreme restraint from everybody and reiterated that nuclear facilities should never be a target in military conflicts.

Here is a timeline of Iran and Israel’s open warfare.

1979 – Iran’s pro-Western leader Mohammed Reza Shah, who regarded Israel as an ally, is swept from power in an Islamic Revolution that installs a new theocratic regime with opposition to Israel as an ideological imperative.

1982 – As Israel invades Lebanon, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards work with fellow Shi’ite Muslims there to set up Hezbollah. Israel eventually comes to see the terrorist group as the most dangerous adversary on its borders.

1983 – Iran-backed Hezbollah uses suicide bombings to expel Western and Israeli forces from Lebanon. In November, a car packed with explosives drives into the headquarters of the Israeli military. Israel later withdraws from much of Lebanon.

1992-94 – Argentina and Israel accuse Iran and Hezbollah of being behind suicide bombings on Israel’s embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992 and a Jewish community centre in the city in 1994, each of which killed dozens of people. Iran and Hezbollah deny responsibility.

For more, read here.

There have been reports of explosions in Iran’s third-largest city on Friday (AEST), with Israeli officials telling The New York Times that a strike was launched. A US official also confirmed Israel launched a strike against Iran.

The explosions hit an area near the city of Isfahan in the country’s centre, where there is a key military base.

However, the exact nature of the event is unclear, after an Iranian official told Reuters on Friday that the explosions heard in Isfahan were a result of the activation of Iran’s air defence systems and no missile attack was carried out against Iran.

The prospect of an attack on Iran by Israel would be a dramatic escalation of regional tensions.

This is what we know so far about the situation between Israel and Iran.

Our foreign affairs and national security correspondent, Matthew Knott, has filed this latest update on the unfolding situation in Iran.

Iran activated its air defence batteries across several provinces after an apparent Israeli strike on Friday, prompting fears of an escalating conflict among two of the Middle East’s biggest military powers.

Air defences activated and projectiles in the sky over Iran.Credit: @Joyce_Karam/X

Explosions were heard near a major air base and nuclear research site in central Iran.

As global airlines scrambled to re-route passenger flights following the reported explosions, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) responded by warning Australians against travelling to Israel and the Palestinian territories because of the risk of further attacks.

Iranian state television reported that three drones were brought down on Friday over Isfahan in central Iran, home to Iran’s fleet of American-made F-14 Tomcat fighter aircraft and sites associated with Iran’s nuclear program.

Iranian state TV said that at “around 12.30am GMT [10.30am Australian time] three drones were observed in the sky over Isfahan. The air defence system became active and destroyed these drones in the sky.”

Iranian nuclear sites were undamaged, Iranian state media reported while also denying reports that Israel had launched a missile strike against Iran.

Read the whole story here.