Famous for its palaces, mosques and tiled minarets, Isfahan, where explosions were heard during the early hours of Friday, is also an important center of the Iranian military industry.
The third largest city in Iran, nicknamed “Nesf-e-Jahaan” or the middle of the world, is located in the center of the country, near the Zagros Mountains.
The city and the surrounding region are a drone and ballistic missile manufacturing hub.
Relatively nearby is the Natanz nuclear facility, the most important center of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program.
That is probably what has put her in the target and the reason why she has been attacked. Israel has not confirmed its responsibility for the attack, but its government announced a few days ago that it would respond to the launch of hundreds of Iranian missiles and drones against its territory last weekend.
That massive attack, which did not cause major damage, was Iran’s response to the attack on its consulate in Damascus, in which several of its generals were killed and for which Tehran blamed the Israelis.
The name of Isfahan is closely linked to Iran’s nuclear facilitiesso the message of this Friday’s attack will not have gone unnoticed by its leaders.
If it was an Israeli attack, it appears that Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has tried to make clear to Iran that it has the ability to attack those sensitive targets in the province, even if it has so far refrained from actually doing so.
Iranian authorities were quick to announce that the nuclear facilities in Isfahan province were “completely safe.” Iran, which does not possess nuclear weapons, denies that it is trying to use its civilian nuclear program to achieve them.
Contradictory information
However, there are conflicting reports about what happened during the early hours of Friday. Iran’s National Cyberspace Center spokesman Hossein Dalirian said “several” drones were “successfully shot down” and rejected reports that a missile attack had taken place.
Some Iranian media have reported three explosions near Isfahan airport and an air base.
The commander-in-chief of the Iranian army, Abdolrahim Mousavi, attributed Friday’s explosions to “the firing of air defense systems at a suspicious object.”
Iranian media and officials said the incident involved three drones that were launched by “infiltrators.”
The Iranian Air Force has a base at Isfahan airportwhich houses some of its former F-14 fighters.
Iran first acquired this American-made fighter in the 1970s when the Shah reigned and maintained good relations with Washington, and has managed to keep its fleet operational ever since. It is the only country in the world that maintains operational devices made famous by the movie “Top Gun” in 1986.
Isfahan has been the target of previous attacks for which Israel was blamed. In January 2023, Iran blamed Israel for a drone attack on a munitions factory in the city center. The attack was reportedly carried out using quadcopters, small drones with four propellers.
“Very significant”
Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a chemical weapons expert who was head of the UK and NATO nuclear forces, told the BBC that attacking Isfahan is “very significant” because of the number of military bases there and in its surroundings.
He added that the alleged missile attack occurred “quite close to where we think Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, so maybe it’s a reference to that.”
For this expert, the Israeli attack was “largely a demonstration of capability and perhaps intention.” He indicated that most of the more than 300 drones and missiles that Iran fired at Israel last weekend were intercepted, while Israel had fired “one, maybe two” missiles at a target and would have caused “damage.”
He highlighted that Iranian officials are downplaying the significance of the attack because they do not want to publicize Israel’s success in penetrating Iran’s “outdated” air defense systems.
“Israel far surpasses Iran in military terms and this is a demonstration of that,” he said.
“Iran would prefer to fight in the shadows using its terrorist groups and allies rather than confronting Israel directly in a conventional way, where it knows it would receive a real blow,” the expert said.
His is an impression that the comments coming from Moscow seem to confirm. “Russia, which has increasingly close military cooperation with Iran, has informed Israel that Iran ‘does not want escalation”” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.
“There have been telephone contacts between the Russian leadership and Iran, our representatives and the Israelis. “We made it very clear in these talks, we told the Israelis that Iran does not want an escalation,” Lavrov told Russian radio.
De Bretton-Gordon said Iran had “slightly restored its pride” after attacking Israel last weekend and probably wants to leave things as they are for now.
“He knows that Israel is absolutely determined and appears to have the support of the United States and others. “Iran can’t really rely on much help, maybe a little bit from Russia, which is very interested in keeping the focus on the Middle East and not on Ukraine, but other than that, it’s a little bit isolated,” he said.
“The last thing they want is for some of their main facilities to be attacked,” the expert concluded.
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