Iran fires air defence batteries in provinces as explosions heard near Isfahan

It remained unclear if the country was under attack, as no Iranian official directly acknowledged the possibility and Israel’s military did not respond to a request for comment. Tensions have remained high in the days since the Saturday assault on Israel amid its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and its own strikes targeting Iran in Syria.

One Iranian government official and later Iran’s state-run television broadcaster suggested sites may have been targeted by drones.IRNA said the defences fired across several provinces. It did not elaborate on what caused the batteries to fire, though people across the area reported hearing the sounds.

In particular, IRNA said air defences fired at a major air base in Isfahan, which long has been home to Iran’s fleet of American-made F-14 Tomcats — purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.The semiofficial Fars and Tasnim news agencies also reported the sound of blasts, without giving a cause.