Israel’s limited strike against Iran is a “de-escalation attack” that allows both countries to step back and save face, experts believe.

The alleged Israeli attack on Iran this morning was so measured that it could be considered a “de-escalation attack”, experts said, as both sides cannot afford an all-out war.

The central Iranian city of Isfahan was attacked at 5 a.m. local time, and Israeli drones were reported to have targeted an Air Force base that has long housed Iran’s fleet of F-14s. American-made Tomcats, acquired before the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

Isfahan is also a known hotbed of Iran’s nuclear research and is home to drone production plants, but the attack is believed to have caused little property damage and no casualties have been reported.

Iranian officials attempted to downplay any significant damage to their military facilities and strongly denied that any nuclear plants had been destroyed, while Iranian state television this morning released images of a peaceful Isfahan to cast doubt on reports that the city had been attacked.

Dr Andreas Krieg, a Middle East security expert and senior lecturer at the School of Security Studies at King’s College London, told MailOnline that such a limited attack could be seen as an effort by Tel Aviv to extricate itself from a kinetic conflict. important.

‘If this is the extent of Israel’s retaliation, it could be described as a de-escalation attack. The use of small drones as quadcopters provides a degree of plausible deniability that could help Iran downplay the effect of the attack.

‘We could say that this attack marks a return to the shadow war that has been ongoing for years if that is the extent of it.

He added: “The Iranians would have to respond to an attack that cannot be denied or that would involve Israeli aircraft over Iran, but this attack does not cross the threshold.” Neither side wants an all-out war.”

Meanwhile, Iranian officials told Reuters that Tehran has no immediate retaliation plans against Israel, contradicting statements made by several senior politicians earlier this week.

‘The foreign source of the incident has not been confirmed. “We have not received any external attack and the discussion is leaning more towards infiltration than attack,” an Iranian official said on condition of anonymity.

In the days after Iran bombed Israel with missiles and drones last Saturday, Israeli ministers vowed to fight back, and Tel Aviv’s hardline National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir declared that his nation must be prepared “to go crazy” in Tehran.

As such, the small-scale attacks were not well received by far-right elements of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s War Cabinet, with Ben-Gvir himself deriding this morning’s explosions in Iran as “weak.” .

But analysts say Netanyahu, whose popularity has plummeted in Israel with dozens of hostages still held captive in Gaza after six months of war with Hamas, is in a difficult position.

Israel cannot afford a major conflict with Iran, particularly as the IDF is stretched to its limits amid ongoing military operations against Hamas and intermittent skirmishes with Hezbollah on the northern border with Lebanon.

But international vitriol over the IDF’s brutal six-month bombing of Gaza, which has so far killed more than 33,000 Palestinians in just six months, dissipated following Iran’s attack last weekend, and The United States, the United Kingdom and other allies reaffirmed their support for Israel after Tehran’s aggression.

With this in mind, Dr. Krieg added that Netanyahu could carry out a campaign of limited attacks on Iranian soil, or focus attacks on Iran’s proxies in the region.

“I think Netanyahu is better off with a protracted but manageable conflict. That can be achieved by expanding the conflict with Iran’s Axis of Resistance. This is a low-risk conflict that keeps Israel on high alert without the risk of becoming existential.

‘Israel could decide to launch a series of attacks spread over time that individually are so insignificant that Iran does not have to respond.

“Israel could resort to Iran’s ‘death with 1,000 cuts’ strategy, which is difficult to deter.”

Similar sentiments were expressed by Justin Crump, British army veteran and CEO of global risk analysis firm Sibylline, who earlier this week said a prolonged conflict can benefit Netanyahu by reducing political pressure on Israel’s war in Gaza.

“The permacrisis suits Netanyahu at this stage,” Crump told MailOnline.

‘This situation has certainly helped Israel and its leaders, reversing the trend of pressure on Gaza and helping to defuse some political tensions that were once again building.

‘It is to be hoped that Netanyahu will take advantage of this environment. Therefore, the Israeli public stance of the War Cabinet will remain belligerent, no matter what happens behind the scenes.’

Neither Israel nor the United States have issued any official comment following the explosions in Iran.

Iranian National Security Committee official Abolfazl Amoue stated earlier this week that Tehran is “prepared to use a weapon we have never used” if Israel responds further.

And Iran’s foreign minister told CNN yesterday that Tehran’s response to an Israeli attack would be immediate.

“If the Israeli regime makes the big mistake again, our response will be decisive, final and regrettable for them,” said Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

But officials cited by Reuters this morning disputed these statements and said Iran had no immediate response planned.

Images circulating on social media appear to show explosions in Iran, although MailOnline has not been able to confirm the images.

Shortly after reports of attacks emerged, three drones were “successfully shot down by the country’s air defense,” according to Iran’s National Cyberspace Center spokesman Hossein Dalirain in X.

Israeli officials warned the Biden administration of their intention to strike ahead of the launch in previous days, but an official told CNN that the US did not greenlight any Israeli response.

Hours earlier, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, on Thursday afternoon, but a high-level source declined to confirm to the New York Times whether Gallant warned about strikes after the meeting.

Israeli military sources reportedly emphasized that today’s strikes were a “limited response” to Iran’s attack, and appeared to target military centers used by Iran in its attack on Saturday.

About four hours after the attacks were reported, Iran lifted flight suspensions and opened its airports, with runways in Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz closed amid the Israeli attack.

Other explosions reportedly hit military targets in Iraq and Syria around the same time. Syria’s state news agency SANA cited a military statement as saying that Israel carried out a missile attack on an air defense unit in the south, causing material damage.

tThe Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the attack hit a military radar of government forces. It was unclear if there were any casualties, the Observatory said.

Observatory head Rami Abdurrahman said six Israeli fighter jets entered Syrian airspace and were flying east when they were detected by radar.