Israel Strikes back at Iran and Syria

Egypt Daily News/ Reuters - The official Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reports reports that Israel attacked targets inside deep inside Iran. Iranian social media websites said that sirens were heard in Isfahan Governorate in the center of the country and air defenses were being activated.

The Iranian Fars News Agency reported that clashes broke out between Iranian air defense and Israeli aircraft in Tehran and explosions were heard in the city of Qahjawaristan, northwest of Isfahan.

It added that flights were suspended at a number of Iranian airports, including the airport in the capital, Tehran, due to the explosions that Isfahan witnessed a short while ago. Meanwhile, an American official said that the explosions in the Iranian city of Isfahan a short while ago were the result of Israeli missiles targeting an Iranian site, which indicates the Israeli response to the recent Iranian attacks on Israel.

The American CNN indicated that at least 8 flights changed their course over Iranian airspace, as the flight tracking website Flight Radar 24 showed that many flights were diverted over Iranian airspace early on Friday.

Syrian media reported that air strikes targeted Syrian army positions in the Suwayda and Daraa governorates in the south of the country.

Israeli missiles have hit a site in Iran, ABC News reported late on Thursday, citing a U.S. official, while Iranian state media reported an explosion in the center of the country, days after Iran launched a retaliatory drone strike on Israel.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the reports.

Iran's Fars news agency said an explosion was heard at an airport in the central city of Isfahan but the cause was not immediately known. Iran suspended flights over the cities of Isfahan, Shiraz and Tehran, state media reported.

Several Iranian nuclear sites are located in Isfahan province, including Natanz, centerpiece of Iran’s uranium enrichment program.

Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport was closed to all flights until 0700 GMT, according to a notice to airmen posted on a U.S. Federal Aviation Administration database.

Some Emirates and Flydubai flights that were flying over Iran early on Friday made sudden sharp turns away from the airspace, according to flight paths shown on tracking website Flightradar24.

Israel had said it would retaliate, opens new tab against Iran's weekend attack, which involved hundreds of drones, opens new tab and missiles in retaliation for a suspected Israeli strike on its embassy compound in Syria. Most of the Iranian drones and missiles were downed before reaching Israeli territory.

Analysts and observers have been raising concerns about the risks of the Israel-Gaza war spreading into the rest of the region.

Iran told the United Nations Security Council on Thursday that Israel "must be compelled to stop any further military adventurism against our interests" as the U.N. secretary-general warned that the Middle East was in a "moment of maximum peril."

Oil prices and jumped on the reports of the Israeli strike. Brent crude futures rose 2% to $88.86 a barrel, the dollar gained broadly, gold rose 1% and S&P 500 futures dropped 1%.

Israel's assault on Gaza began after Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's military offensive has killed over 33,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the local health ministry.

Iran-backed groups have declared support for Palestinians, launching attacks from Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq.