An Israeli missile is believed to have struck the Iranian city of Isfahan overnight in a serious escalation of the conflict between the two countries.
Iranian media cited unconfirmed reports of explosions in the central province of Isfahan on Friday morning, while Iran's state broadcaster IRIB downplayed reports of an attack, saying Isfahan is "safe and sound."
"Important facilities in the Isfahan province, especially nuclear facilities, are completely safe and no accidents have been reported," Iranian state broadcaster Press TV said, citing officials.
Isfahan is a city steeped in history and culture, home to some of Iran's most stunning ancient sites, including bridges, palaces, tiled mosques, minarets and expansive boulevards.
The ancient city is shared with the terrifying weapon facilities (Corbis News)
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One of the city's oldest landmarks is the Fire Temple of Isfahan, which dates back to the Sassanid era between the 3rd and 7th century AD, while the Shah Mosque in Isfaha can be traced back to the 17th century.
But Isfahan has become an important strategic location for Iran's nuclear arsenal in recent years, meaning some of Iran's oldest sites now share their city with a number of important military facilities, including the major 8th Tactical Air Base, which is home to Iran’s fleet of US-made F-14 Tomcats, which were purchased before the 1979 revolution.
The city also houses an underground Natanz enrichment site, Iran’s best known nuclear facility. The facility at Isfahan, which began construction in 1999, operates three small Chinese-supplied research reactors, as well as handling fuel production and other activities for Iran’s civilian nuclear programme.
The city also houses an underground Natanz enrichment site (VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The extent of the drone attack remains unclear (VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)The site was reportedly hit by an explosion in November 2011, but Iranian officials said that its nuclear facilities “were secure” on Friday morning. Hamish De Bretton Gordon, a former commander of UK and Nato nuclear forces, told the BBC that the selection of Isfahan as a target by Israel was "very significant".
"[The reported attack] was fairly near to where we believe Iran is building nuclear weapons, so I expect it was a nod to them," he said. The city was struck after Iran fired more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel in its first-ever direct military assault on the country on Saturday.
The strikes did not cause widespread damage or death but Israel vowed it would respond despite president Joe Biden and other leaders urging restraint. The Iranian strikes on Saturday were in retaliation for an Israeli strike on April 1 on an Iranian consular building in Syria, which killed two of Tehran’s top generals.
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