Israel Strikes Iran

The strikes are said to have originated in Tehran. Interestingly.. reminiscent of the Ukraine/Russian conflict. It’s not a shock that Israel would have agents/assets on the ground in Iran.. It doesn’t appear to have been a particularly large attack. Iran did intercept some of the drones (unknown to me how many)

Israel has had it’s credit rating downgraded by a second US credit ratings agency

Moscow Times

“There have been telephone contacts between the leadership of Russia and Iran, our representatives and the Israelis. We made it very clear in these conversations, we told the Israelis that Iran does not want escalation,” Lavrov said in an interview with Russian radio stations.

The Kremlin also said Friday it was looking into the reports that Israel carried out a strike on Iran and urged all sides to exercise “restraint” to prevent further escalation.

“We continue to favor restraint on the sides and to refrain from any action that could provoke further escalation in such a sensitive region,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Newsweek

Iranian military sources, however, told the New York Times that the attack was carried out by small drones—potentially launched from inside Tehran. Tehran’s radar did not detect unidentified aircraft entering Iranian airspace, the officials said.

Iran said it used air defense batteries to respond to several locations following the military action and confirmed that the nearby nuclear sites “were secure”.

The tit-for-tat conflict now threatens to escalate throughout the wider region, warning of extreme dangers amid the military retaliation taking place so close to several major nuclear sites.

Isfahan is home to several important Iranian military facilities, not only nuclear. The city, close to the center of the country and around 250 miles south of capital Tehran, also houses a wider military airbase, factories linked to its production of drones, and other military manufacturing.

Following the attacks early Friday the United Nation’s nuclear body, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), confirmed there was “no damage to Iran’s nuclear sites.”

The body’s director, General Rafael Mariano Grossi, called for “extreme restraint from everybody” and reiterated that “nuclear facilities should never be a target in military conflicts.” The IAEA said it was monitoring the situation very closely.

Triblive

CAPRI, Italy — The U.S. told the Group of Seven foreign ministers on Friday that it received “last minute” information from Israel about a drone action in Iran, Italy’s foreign minister said.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who chaired the meeting of ministers of industrialized countries, said the United States provided the information at a Friday morning session that was changed at the last minute to address the suspected attack.

Tajani said the U.S. informed the G7 ministers that it had been “informed at the last minute” by Israel about the drones. “But there was no sharing of the attack by the U.S. It was a mere information.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken declined to comment on the assertion, but emphasized that the U.S. was not involved in any attack.

“I’m not going to speak to that except to say that the United States has not been involved in any offensive operations,” Blinken said.

In a communique following the three-day meeting, the ministers urged the parties “to prevent further escalation.”

Israel’s long term credit rating is downgraded by S&P following a Moody’s downgrade.

Israel’s long-term credit rating is being downgraded by S&P, which cited the risk of military escalation with Iran. It is the second major U.S. credit ratings agency to do so.

S&P’s downgrade was issued shortly before the strike in Iran, and almost three months after Moody’s, another major U.S. credit agency, downgraded Israel’s rating due to the “ongoing military conflict with Hamas.”