An apparent Israeli airstrike on Iran did not result in any deaths or injuries, an Italian official said Friday.
Israel struck targets in Iran with missiles on Thursday night, according to multiple reports citing anonymous U.S. officials.
Iran's semi-official FARS news agency reported at least one explosion in the vicinity of an airport in the city of Isfahan. The cause of the explosion was not immediately known.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajan said at the meeting of G7 Foreign Ministers that there were Italians living in the area of the strike, but no one was hurt.
“There were no deaths or injuries,” Tajani said, according to The Associated Press. “There is a group of Italians who live in the city where the drones arrived and they are all without problems. They say life has resumed regularly, and the Iranian airspace has reopened.”
Flights were diverted around western Iran early on Friday, without immediate explanation. Air defense batteries had activated across multiple provinces.
Speaking from the G7 Conference, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he would not comment on Friday's attacks other than to say that the U.S. was "not involved in offensive actions."
The targets were not nuclear in nature, according to anonymous U.S. officials who spoke to CNN. Iran's state news agency IRNA said Thursday that the country's nuclear facilities were "secure."
Scripps News has not yet independently verified the developments.
Israel had promised to retaliate for Iran's Saturday attack, in which Iran launched hundreds of drones and additional volleys of cruise missiles from multiple locations in Iran and in other countries against targets in Israel.
Israel did not give additional details at the time about the nature of its potential response.
Just before Blinken's comments, G7 ministers issued a joint statement condemning Iran for last week's attack.
"Israel and its people have our full solidarity and support and we reaffirm our commitment towards Israel’s security," the statement read. "Iran’s actions mark an unacceptable step towards the destabilization of the region and a further escalation, which must be avoided. In light of reports of strikes on April 19th , we urge all parties to work to prevent further escalation. The G7 will continue to work to this end."
The U.S., the United Kingdom, France and other allied nations helped Israel defend itself against Iran's strike. Israel says nearly all the drones and missiles were intercepted. A 7-year-old girl was injured in the attack.
On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed recommendations from allies to use restraint in Israel's response to Iran's attack.
“I want to be clear: We will make our decisions ourselves. The state of Israel will do whatever is necessary to defend itself,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu says Israel will decide how to respond to Iran's attack
Israel has vowed to respond to Iran’s unprecedented attack without saying when or how, leaving the region bracing for further escalation.
