Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has thanked the country's armed forces for their campaign against Israel and urged them to "relentlessly pursue military innovation and learn from the enemy's tactics," Reuters reported, citing Iran's official news agency on April 21.
"How many missiles were launched and how many of them hit their targets is not the main issue, what is really important is that Iran demonstrated its strength and will in that campaign," Khamenei stressed.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei
Iran first publicly targeted Israel on the night of April 13 and early morning of April 14 with more than 300 missiles and drones. Tehran said the attack was in retaliation for an airstrike on the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus, Syria, on April 1 that killed seven Iranian officers.
Israel said it would respond to the April 13 attack. On April 19, The New York Times quoted two Israeli and three Iranian officials as saying that the Israeli military had attacked Iran that morning. The Iranian officials also said that one attack targeted an air base near the central Iranian city of Isfahan.
Israel, Iran keep quiet after Isfahan attack
Iranian state television reported early on April 19 that "three drones were observed in the sky over Isfahan, the air defense system was activated and destroyed these drones (UAVs) in the sky".
However, an Iranian analyst later said on television that several small UAVs shot down by air defense forces in Isfahan were controlled by "infiltrators from inside Iran," according to Reuters.
In addition, an unnamed Iranian official said: "Foreign sources about the incident have not been confirmed. We have not received any external attacks and the discussion is more about infiltration than attack," according to Reuters.
On April 20, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told NBC News that the UAVs took off from inside Iran and flew a few hundred meters before being shot down.
“We have not proven that there is a connection between this and Israel,” Mr Amirabdollahian continued. He added that Iran was investigating the incident, but that media reports were inaccurate.
Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian warned that if Israel retaliates and acts against Iran's interests, Tehran will respond immediately and to the maximum extent, according to Reuters.
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