TEHRAN/JERUSALEM, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Explosions were heard early Friday near the Iranian city of Isfahan in an apparent Israeli strike, less than a week after Iran's barrage of missiles and drones in its first direct attack on Israeli territory.

Friday's attack had been widely expected, as Israel had been signaling over the past few days that it would not let the Iranian attacks early Sunday go unanswered.

The strike on Friday appeared to be aimed at an Iranian Air Force base near Isfahan in central Iran, a province that houses facilities associated with Iran's nuclear program.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in New York on Friday that Iran had downed three Israeli micro air vehicles (MAVs) earlier in the day, and the strike caused no financial damage or casualty. Israel, however, has not officially claimed responsibility for the attack.

Israel's low-profile response, coupled with media downplaying the event in both countries, suggests a strategic reluctance of both countries to escalate their simmering tensions, which have been characterized by Iran's strong vocal opposition to Israel's military operations in Gaza and strikes undermining Israeli interests by Iran's allied armed groups in the Middle East since last October.

The "limited" Israeli attack on Isfahan "is not to escalate but to show the Iranians that we are perfectly capable of harming them much heavily and specifically on their nuclear projects," said Harel Chorev, head of the Desk for Middle Eastern Network Analysis at the Moshe Dayan Center of Tel Aviv University.

SPIRALING HOSTILITIES

Israel and Iran have long been involved in shadow conflicts, with Iranian-backed armed groups targeting Israeli objects along the Lebanon-Israel border and the Red Sea, and Israel's precision strikes on prominent Iranian figures and military officers. The armed confrontations between Iranian-backed groups and Israel have intensified since the outbreak of the current round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict on Oct. 7, 2023.

However, the latest round of conflict has morphed into an open military engagement between Iran and Israel featuring direct attacks on each other's territories. This escalation is viewed as highly perilous, with many expressing concern that it could trigger a broader regional conflict, especially amid the ongoing Gaza conflict.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned "any act of retaliation" after Friday's attack, calling on the international community to prevent further escalation that could "lead to devastating consequences for the entire region and beyond."

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said on Friday that China opposes any actions that lead to further escalation of tensions.

Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) urged both sides to avoid an escalation of the conflict. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen appealed to Israel and Iran to refrain from further actions, saying "it is absolutely necessary that the region stays stable."

In the Middle East, Türkiye, Egypt, Iraq and some other countries on Friday expressed their concerns over the possible escalation of tensions and called for restraint.

"The confrontation between Iran and Israel is open, and it is likely that Iran will not respond to Friday's attack directly, as it has not been subjected to a major military response. However, a return to the shadow war is the most preferred option," said Mohammed al-Omari, a Syrian political analyst.

"Iran will certainly retaliate in a certain way. I am afraid that this cycle of tit-for-tat attacks between Iran and Israel will continue. However, it is unlikely to escalate into a full-scale regional war," said Liu Zhongmin, a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University.

PROLONGED STALEMATE IN PEACE EFFORTS

The direct confrontation between the two foes adds a new dimension to the ongoing efforts of the international community to de-escalate the devastating conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Triggered by a Hamas surprise attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people, the Israeli military offensive in Gaza has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians and wounded 76,833 others as of Friday, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza.

Against the backdrop of stalled ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, Palestine renewed its request for a full UN member state status earlier this month, a move that could empower Palestinians to advocate for their interests more effectively on the global stage and garner greater support for a two-state solution if it becomes successful.

During a UN Security Council session on Thursday, the United States vetoed a draft UN resolution advocating for full membership for Palestine, postponing a request that the Palestinian mission to the UN initially proposed as early as 2011.

Palestine condemned the U.S. veto on Thursday "in the strongest terms," saying it defies the will of the international community.

The Palestinian presidency said the "aggressive" move reveals duplicitous U.S. foreign policy, which, on the one hand, claims to support the two-state solution and, on the other, prevents the United Nations from implementing the solution through its repeated use of the veto against Palestine and its legitimate rights.

"It is regrettable that veto is used to impede an obvious international willingness to accept Palestine's full membership to the UN," Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said on X, formerly Twitter.

In an official statement, the Syrian Foreign Ministry accused the United States of hindering the Security Council's duty to uphold the Palestinian people's legitimate rights.

Barring the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state on Palestinian land would only intensify the current fragile state of security and instability in the Middle East, added the ministry.

Mazen Shamieh, former assistant minister for the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, said: "The U.S. has demonstrated its lack of credibility in sponsoring any peace process in the (Middle East) region. The U.S. policies have proved that it is an element of tension and a maker of crises in the region, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Syria, and Yemen."

"The American veto reveals the true face of the U.S. and reflects the failure of its policies in the (Middle East) region, particularly concerning the Palestinian issue," he said, adding that "the U.S. alone should bear responsibility for the collapse of the regional security system in the Middle East." Enditem

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