Iran has blamed Israel for the attack on Isfahan last week, threatening to once again heighten tensions in the region.
An analysis of satellite images appears to show damage to a Iranian military facilities in a drone strike last week, including holes in the roof of the building, according to The Associated Press news agency.
Cloudy weather prevented satellite images of the facility’s location showing the effects of the January 28 attack.
While Iran has given no explanation for what the facility in the city of Isfahan produces, the attack threatens to once again heighten tensions in the region, with Tehran blame Israel for the drone strike, a conclusion also reached by US officials.
Video of the attack shows an explosion at the site after anti-aircraft fire targeted the drone, likely from one of the drones, reaching the roof of the building. The Iranian military has claimed that it shot down two other drones before they reached the site.
Images taken by Planet Labs PBC on Thursday show the facility in Isfahan, about 350 kilometers south of the capital Tehran. An AP analysis of the images, compared with previous images of the workshop, showed damaged roofs of the structure.
That damage corresponds to footage broadcast by Iranian state television shortly after the attack that showed at least two holes in the roof of the building.
Iranian state television footage, as well as satellite photos, suggest the building’s roof may also have been constructed of so-called “black stone armor”.
A cage-like structure built around a roof or armored vehicle to prevent a direct explosion from a missile, missile, or bomb-carrying drone aimed at a target.
The installation of such a protection system at the facility indicates that Iran believes it could be a drone target.
Iran’s Intelligence Ministry announced in July that it had foiled a plot to target sensitive sites around Isfahan.
A segment aired on Iranian state television in October included purported confessions of alleged members of Komala, a Kurdish opposition party expelled from Iran and now headquartered. in Iraq, in which they said they planned to target a military aerospace facility in Isfahan after the attack. trained by the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.
It remains unclear whether the military facility targeted in the drone strike was the same aerospace facility.
A letter published Thursday by Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, said initial investigations showed Israel was responsible. However, the letter did not detail any evidence to support Iran’s suspicions.
Attacks in progress
There have been a number of explosions and fires around Iran’s military, nuclear and industrial facilities over the past few years.
Iran blames Israel for the assassination of its top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadehin 2020, as well as an attack on the underground Natanz nuclear facility in April 2021 that damaged its centrifuges.
The attack comes as the Iranian government faces challenges both at home and abroad.
Nationwide protests have rocked the country since the death of Mahsa Amini in September, a Kurdish woman of Iranian descent who was detained by the country’s ethics police. Its rial has also plummeted to new lows against the US dollar.
