There is an explosion in Iran. According to media reports, this is said to be a “limited attack” by Israel. The news ticker.
Update from April 19th, 12:20 p.m.:
After Israel's alleged attack on Iran, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has again warned of further escalation in the Middle East. “Everyone must ensure now and in the near future that there is no further escalation of the war,” he said on Friday at an SPD conference on the North Sea island of Norderney. Germany represents this position together with its allies. However, Scholz did not comment specifically on the reports about the alleged attack. He simply said that there had been “military activity again” on Friday night.
Explosion near Isfahan after Israel attack – Iranian forces investigate the situation
Update from April 19, 11:30 a.m.:
After the suspected Israeli attack in Iran, the incident is to be investigated. Experts were examining the dimensions of the attack and would present a report, the commander-in-chief of the regular armed forces, Abdolrahim Mousavi, said on Friday, according to the state news agency Irna. He reiterated the military's statements that the explosions that night were due to air defense.
Update from April 19, 11:15 a.m.:
Israel's alleged attack on Iran has also changed the agenda of the meeting of the G7 foreign ministers in Capri. The ministers from seven large democratic industrial nations (G7) discussed the new situation on the Italian island on Friday. The topic is also likely to play an important role in the closing press conferences by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. There was initially no official comment.
Exchange of blows between
Israel
and
Iran
“over” for now
Update from April 19, 10:40 a.m.:
Speaking to
CNN
, a US intelligence source claimed that direct, interstate attacks between Iran and Israel are now “over.” The person, who
CNN
said was not authorized to speak publicly about the incident, did not expect a counterattack from Iran. While Tehran has so far tried to play down the alleged attack, the Israeli military has not yet commented.
Update from April 19, 9:58 a.m.:
After reports of Israel's attack on Iran, the International Atomic Energy Agency has given the all-clear. No Iranian nuclear facilities were damaged, the organization reported in Vienna on Friday. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi continues to “call on everyone to exercise extreme restraint,” said a statement on X (formerly Twitter). Nuclear facilities should never be targets in military conflicts, he emphasized.
Iran wants to refrain from retaliating after Israel's attack on Isfahan for the time being
Update April 19, 9:28 a.m.:
Following Israel's possible attack on the Isfahan region of Iran, a senior Iranian official told news agencies on Friday that Iran has no plan for immediate retaliation against Israel. At the same time, he denied reports of attacks in Iran: “The foreign source of the incident has not been confirmed. We have not received any attack from outside and the discussion tends towards infiltration rather than attacks,” the Iranian official said.
Meanwhile, Iranian state television is said to be reporting that mini drones launched by “invaders from Iran” were shot down. Meanwhile, Oman, which acts as a mediator in the Middle East, condemned Israel's attack on Iran and "repeated Israeli military attacks in the region."
Possible Israeli attack on Iran: Expert speaks of “direct reaction” to Iran attack
Update from April 19, 9:05 a.m.:
According to a US media report, Israel wanted to show Tehran that it can attack within the country with the alleged air strike in Iran. The Israeli military carried out the attack in retaliation for Tehran's drone and rocket fire last weekend, the
Washington Post
reported Friday, citing an unnamed Israeli government official.
According to US military expert Cedric Leighton, Israel has proven that the Iranian air defense system does not have anywhere near the capabilities of the Israeli air defense system with the action, which was "clearly a direct response to the Iranian attacks over the weekend."
Update from April 19, 8:40 a.m.: According to the
New York Times,
“two Israeli and three Iranian officials” have now
confirmed the attack on Iran. According to Iranian information, the military airfield near the city of Isfahan in the center of the country was hit; The extent and method of the attack are still unclear. This corresponds to the estimates of Israeli experts. The Israeli military has so far refused to comment -
the sources only spoke to the
New York Times “under the condition of anonymity”.
Possible Israeli attack on Iran: “Will take time to figure out what happened”
Update from April 19, 7:50 a.m.:
The state media in Iran is showing morning scenes from the Isfahan region, downplaying Israel's alleged attack on a nearby air base. So far it has only been said that the Islamic Republic's air defenses shot down three drones. Relevant recordings are circulating on X (formerly Twitter), among others. However, their authenticity cannot currently be verified.
In Israel, observers assume that Tehran has not yet had time to assess the effects of the attack. “They will need time to find out what happened,” the
Times of Israel
quoted former army spokesman Avi Benajahu as saying.
Possible Israeli attack on Iran: US media confirms reports
Update from April 19, 7:17 a.m.:
There were initially no reports of damage after Israel's alleged attack on Iran. Air traffic has now resumed, Iranian state media reported.
CNN
also said
that nuclear facilities in Iran were not the target of the attacks. Israel has demonstrated that Iran's air defense is no match for Israel's.
Conflicting reports about
attack
on
Iran
Update from April 19, 6:21 a.m.:
According to consistent US media reports, Israel is said to have attacked Iran.
ABC News, MSNBC
and
Fox News
and other media outlets
reported, citing US government officials, that Israel carried out a military operation in Iran on Friday night. This was a response to the Iranian air strikes on Israel at the weekend. Several US media outlets reported one or more Israeli missiles attacking a target in Iran. The Pentagon did not initially confirm the reports. There were initially no direct accusations from the Iranian side.
Fox News
reported, citing a military source, that it was a “limited attack.” The USA was not involved and the Israelis informed the US government in advance. On Thursday there was a call between high-ranking representatives of the US government and the Israeli side in which, according to the White House, Iran was also discussed.
Conflicting reports of explosion in Iran: Government rejects individual reports
Update from April 19, 5:50 a.m.:
After air defenses were activated in various parts of Iran, according to state media there is no evidence of a missile attack on the country. It was not a widespread attack, the state news agency
Irna
reported on Friday morning. According to the
Tasnim
news agency, the air defense was
activated after several small flying objects were sighted. The Iranian government denied reports that the Security Council had met for an emergency meeting.
Update from April 19th, 5:21 a.m.:
Further details about the alleged attack near the Iranian metropolis of Isfahan: According to state media, several small flying objects were shot at in the sky over the Iranian province of Isfahan. Previously, on Friday night, there had been reports of an explosion near the city of the same name, Isfahan, which, according to state media, was triggered by air defenses. However, there is talk of several explosions on social media.
Possible
Israel attack
: Explosion
reported in
Iran
Update from April 19, 5:12 a.m.:
In Iran, according to state media, air defenses have been activated in several provinces of the country. The state news agency
Irna
also reported on Friday night about an explosion in Isfahan province.
According to the
Fars
news agency , the reason for the explosion on Friday night near the metropolis of Isfahan was still unknown. It therefore occurred near the airport in the city of millions. As
Fars
reported on Telegram, there is also a military base there. The US broadcaster
ABC News
reported, citing a US government representative, that Israeli missiles had hit an - initially unspecified - target in Iran. According to
Fars,
local authorities are investigating the incident, as a result of which operations have been suspended at several airports in the country.
Important facilities for the Iranian defense industry are located in Isfahan. The country's largest nuclear research center is also located in the cultural city.
US vetoes Palestinian UN membership
Update from April 18, 11:30 p.m.:
The USA vetoed full membership of the Palestinians in the United Nations in a vote in the UN Security Council. The text submitted by Algeria received twelve votes in favor, one against and two abstentions on Thursday. The Palestinians have had observer status at the United Nations since 2012, but have been demanding full membership for years.
Decision made in the war cabinet: Israel strikes back after Iran attack
First report:
Tel Aviv - The Israeli war cabinet, which was proclaimed after the bloody Hamas attack on October 7th, met a total of five times after Iran's major attack on the country. It was about whether and how to respond. The decision was apparently made in the fifth meeting. The war cabinet has decided to strike back,
Kann News
reported.
However, according to Israeli media reports, it is not yet clear when and where the retaliatory strike will take place. An Israeli official told the
Times of Israel
newspaper that retaliation could occur both inside and outside Iran's borders. At the moment they do not want to give any further information “in order to keep Iran in the dark” and make them “nervous”.
Discussions in the Israeli War Cabinet: Strike immediately or wait for international talks
In any case, the War Cabinet meetings were accompanied by heated discussions, as
Kann News
also confirmed. Accordingly, there were ministers who called for an immediate attack against Iran without wasting any more time. Opposition leader Benny Gantz recently expressed the fear that the longer they waited, they would lose international support. On the other hand, there were also ministers at the Cabinet meetings who wanted to wait for the results of international discussions.
USA wants to prevent further escalation in the Middle East
Most recently, the Israeli broadcaster
Reshet 13
reported that the US would offer Israel gifts to deter the country from retaliating against Iran and thus prevent further escalation in the Middle East. This includes more help with a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia and the further development of the regional alliance that repelled the Iranian attack. For Israel, these points may actually be worthwhile. This should make it easy to isolate Iran even more in the region.
Meanwhile, the USA apparently fears a new Iranian attack that could hit Israel if the country decides to retaliate. In recent days, Iran has threatened a stronger attack if Israel responds. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told representatives of American Jewish society at a meeting that it was not in Israel's interest to respond to Iran's attack and launch a counterattack. This was reported by the news portal
Axios
. Accordingly, Blinken said he understood that Israel wanted to respond and also reiterated that the decision rested with Israel. “We only give our best advice,” he emphasized, according to participants.
Middle East War
: The situation at the
front
Our interactive maps provide a daily overview of the situation in the Gaza Strip after Israel's ground offensive began.