The news about the explosions in central Iran was greeted today calmly in the country, where several thousand people gathered in demonstrations in Tehran to welcome the attack on Israel last weekend, reported Agence France-Presse, quoted by BTA.
On today's weekly day off, many residents of the Iranian capital went out to the flower-filled parks or the nearby mountain paths to enjoy the beautiful spring sun, notes AFP.
However, many of them awoke to the news, spread particularly on social media, that explosions had been recorded overnight, signaling the start of Israel's expected retaliation after the first-ever drone and rocket attack carried out by Iran vs Israeli territory. The attack itself was carried out in response to the deadly attack attributed to Israel on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
A few hours later, however, the situation in the capital and in Isfahan, a large historic city where explosions rang out around 4:00 a.m. local time, was calm.
"We are going shopping and playing in the park. Everything is as before, like a normal Friday morning,'' said Bahar, a 24-year-old worker at an education center who was contacted by AFP. She said she was informed of the explosions by a call from a friend living abroad.
Authorities and official media played down the significance of the explosions, explaining that they were linked to the destruction by air defenses of "suspicious objects" flying in the sky near a military base. No casualties or damage were reported.
"The Incident" it was also not mentioned by President Ebrahim Raisi in his speech during a tour of a northeastern Iranian province.
Air traffic, suspended after the explosions, was quickly resumed. Several airports, including the two in Tehran, also briefly suspended operations, according to AFP.