Iran admitted a drone strike had targeted one of its military sites in the central city of Isfahan over the weekend, but stopped short of accusing foreign or opposition groups of planning the attack.
Iran’s defense ministry said a drone carrying a small bomb struck the roof of one building at the facility on Saturday night, while two other drones were intercepted and destroyed. There were no casualties, he added, and no disruption other than some “minor damage”.
A cellphone video shown on Iranian state television showed the moment of the explosion: a flash of light followed by a powerful explosion. The Fars news agency, close to the Revolutionary Guard, posted another video soon after showing fire trucks near the site.
Iran’s official news agency, IRNA, said a similar facility in Isfahan had previously “experienced the same thing”, without saying when. He added that the drones used over the weekend were advanced.
The attack comes at a time when international and domestic pressure is mounting on the Islamic republic on several fronts.
Western governments have criticized Iran for supplying Russia with drones used in the war against Ukraine.
The same government, as well as Israel, has also expressed concern about the development of Iran’s nuclear program, vowing not to allow Tehran to build atomic weapons.
The Islamic Republic has also drawn criticism for suppressing anti-regime protests, which are mostly led by women, in response to the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old who died in police custody after being arrested for not wearing the hijab properly.
Israel is widely believed to have masterminded several operations in Iran over the past decade to sabotage the country’s nuclear program. These covert operations included the assassination of nuclear scientists and attacks on atomic sites, as well as the smuggling of documents.
However, Iranian media and officials did not blame Israel for Saturday’s drone strike.
Iran’s army commander for ground forces, Kioumars Heydari, did not comment on the incident but said on Sunday that the country had made progress in developing various technologies in the defense industry.
“We are shedding old skin in the field from [production of] weapons,” he told his troops.
A US government spokesman would not comment on whether the attack came from Israel, but added that “no US military forces have carried out attacks or operations in Iran”.
Additional reporting by Colby Smith in Washington