Iran acknowledges drone attack by Israel and says it failed

“The ball is in Iran’s court now,” said Ziad Daoud, chief emerging-market economist for Bloomberg Economics. “The most likely scenario is avoiding escalation through another direct attack on Israel.”

Many analysts had said targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities would be the riskiest and most aggressive option open to Israel, with strikes on non-nuclear military facilities and cyberattacks among the less escalatory choices.

Early indications are that this was a “symbolic attack” that won’t force Iran to respond aggressively, retired Israeli General Israel Ziv told the nation’s Channel 12.

Israel’s hawkish national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, suggested he wasn’t happy with his country’s apparent response.

“Weak,” he said in a one-word post on X in Hebrew.

Ben Gvir isn’t part of Netanyahu’s Likud party and doesn’t sit in the five-man war cabinet that takes final decisions on military actions. But he’s key to the survival of Netanyahu’s coalition and said after Iran’s attack that Israel had to hit back hard.

Iranian media portrayed a sense of calm in Isfahan and asserted that everything was proceeding as normal. The country’s Supreme National Security Council decided against convening for an emergency meeting, according to state TV.

Iran was bracing for a reprisal by Israel all week.

Tehran has routinely accused Israel of attacks and sabotage activities targeting its nuclear and military sites in the past, including in Isfahan, home to some key nuclear enrichment and missile facilities. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes but the West accuses it of seeking to develop atomic weapons.

On Thursday, Iran said it may reconsider its nuclear policies if Israel attacked its atomic sites.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian also warned Israel against lashing out after the weekend assault.

“In case the Israeli regime embarks on adventurism again and takes action against the interests of Iran, the next response from us will be immediate and at a maximum level,” he said to CNN.