JERUSALEM (AP) 鈥� Israel and Iran on Friday both played down an apparent Israeli airstrike near a major air base and nuclear site in central Iran, signaling the two bitter enemies are ready to prevent their latest eruption of violence from escalating into a full-blown regional war.
But the indecisive outcome of weeks of tensions 鈥� which included an alleged Israeli strike that killed , an unprecedented Iranian on Israel and the apparent Israeli strike early Friday in the heart of Iran 鈥� did little to resolve the deeper grievances between the foes and left the door open to further fighting.
鈥淚t appears we鈥檙e closer than ever to a broad regional war, despite the fact that the international community will most likely make a great effort to de-escalate tensions,鈥� wrote Amos Harel, the military-affairs commentator for the Israeli daily Haaretz.
Israel has long considered Iran to be its greatest enemy 鈥� citing the Islamic Republic鈥檚 calls for Israel鈥檚 destruction, its controversial nuclear program and its support for hostile proxies across the Middle East.
These tensions have risen since Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Iranian-backed Palestinian groups, attacked Israel on Oct. 7, sparking a devastating in Gaza that has continued for more than six months. Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed proxy in Lebanon, immediately began striking Israeli targets, opening up tit-for-tat fighting along a second front, while Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, Syria and Yemen have also fired missiles and drones at Israel throughout the war.
While Israel and Iran have waged a shadow war for years, mostly in neighboring Syria, they have largely avoided direct confrontations. That changed after an April 1 airstrike killed two Iranian generals at an Iranian diplomatic compound in the Syrian capital of Damascus. Although Israel did not comment, Iran blamed Israel for the strike and vowed revenge.
Iran responded with its first-ever direct attack on Israel, launching over 300 missiles and attack drones late Saturday night. Israel, working with a U.S.-led international coalition, said it intercepted 99% of the incoming fire, though a handful of missiles managed to land, causing minor damage to an Israeli military base and seriously wounding a young girl.
In Friday鈥檚 attack, Iranian state television said that air defense batteries fired in several provinces over reports of drones in the air. Iranian army commander Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi said crews targeted several flying objects.
鈥淭he explosion this morning in the sky of Isfahan was related to the shooting of air defense systems at a suspicious object that did not cause any damage,鈥� Mousavi said.
Authorities said air defenses fired at a major air base near Isfahan, which long has been home to Iran鈥檚 fleet of American-made F-14 Tomcats 鈥� purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Isfahan also is home to sites associated with Iran鈥檚 nuclear program, including its underground Natanz enrichment site, which has been repeatedly targeted by suspected Israeli sabotage attacks. The apparent attack Friday came on Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei鈥檚 85th birthday.
State television described all Iranian atomic sites in the areas as 鈥渇ully safe.鈥� The United Nations鈥� nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, also said there was 鈥渘o damage鈥� to Iran鈥檚 nuclear sites.
Iranian officials made no mention of possible Israeli involvement. That could be intentional, particularly after Iranian officials for days have been threatening to respond to any Israeli retaliatory attack.
Israel also had no comment on the apparent attack, though one hard-line government minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, hinted at his dissatisfaction, with a one-word tweet early Friday, using a slang word for weak or lame.
But Italy鈥檚 foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, said at a that the U.S. received 鈥渓ast-minute鈥� information from Israel about the attack. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken did not dispute that, but said: 鈥淲e were not involved in any offensive operations.鈥�
Yoel Guzansky, a former Iran expert in the Israeli prime minister鈥檚 office, said Israel appears to have carried out the attack to 鈥渃heck off a box鈥� by sending a message to Iran without doing that could upset the United States, which had urged restraint, or spark further Iranian retaliation.
鈥淚t seems very limited, to send a message that 鈥榳e can strike you inside of Iran,鈥欌�� said Guzansky a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv think tank.
He said 鈥渢he current round鈥� of violence appears to be over, but that 鈥渘othing has changed鈥� with Israel still facing Iranian-backed threats on various fronts.
鈥淚 see further rounds,鈥� he said. And the next time, if Iran surprises Israel or allies don鈥檛 assist in Israel鈥檚 defense, 鈥渢he outcome will be different.鈥�
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an end to the strikes.
鈥淚t is high time to stop the dangerous cycle of retaliation in the Middle East,鈥� his office said.
Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Middle East Institute and a longtime regional analyst, challenged Iran鈥檚 claims that drones carried out the attacks. It appears instead that a small number of Israeli aircraft flew from Israel over Syria 鈥� striking at least two southern Syria military bases that have air defense systems along the way, he said.
They then entered Iraqi airspace, from where they fired a small number of Blue Sparrow air-to-surface ballistic missiles, likely without ever entering Iranian airspace, Lister said.
Accounts of explosions over Iraq support that scenario, and so does debris from what appears to be the booster of an Israeli-made Blue Sparrow missile that Iraqi security found in a field outside Baghdad, Lister said.
鈥淚n other words, the Israelis would never have needed to enter Iranian airspace to conduct this attack,鈥� Lister said. “I think this was Israel鈥檚 way of just sending a message that we can reach you anywhere we want.鈥�
If this latest round subsides, Israel can now return its focus to its ongoing war in Gaza and the simmering fighting with Hezbollah. With neither of those fronts letting up, the risk of further run-ins with Iran remains high, though neither side appears eager after Friday’s apparent Israeli attack.
鈥淣either side is ready to jump over the brink,” said Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran program at the Middle East Institute. But he added a major caveat.
鈥淧robably we鈥檙e going to go back to the proxy war, 鈥� he said, but now it鈥檚 a proxy war with the risk of 鈥渢hat sudden eruption of state-to-state war. Which we didn鈥檛 have to worry about before.鈥�
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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press journalists Nasser Karimi, Mehdi Fattahi and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran; Bassem Mroue in Beirut; Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington; Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad; and Nicole Winfield in Capri, Italy; contributed to this report.
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