According to information made public by the Iranian Ministry of Defence, on the 28^th January 2023, around 23:30, Iran time, the authorities thwarted a drone attack aimed at one of Isfahan’s ammunition facilities. Two of the drones were taken down but one managed to hit the building, causing “minor damage” to its roof.

It is worth mentioning that Isfahan is an Iranian city situated almost 350 km away from Tehran and it has a large air base, built for its US F-14 fighter jets, as well as a research and production centre for nuclear fuel.

In the same communique, the Iranian Defence Ministry mentioned that Quadcopter drones were used in the attack. No victims were reported.

As a reaction, in the communique it sent to the media, the ministry insisted that “the installations and their operation were not affected … and such blind actions will not have an impact on the country’s progress”.

In the same context, the ministry did not provide any official information with regard to the nature of the attacker. The attack occurred at the same time when a fire started at a refinery in the north-western part of the country, and at the same time when 5.9 magnitude earthquake occurred. The earthquake was close by, in rural Western Azerbaijan[1]. Three people were killed, 816 people were injured, and many buildings from the rural area were destroyed. According to information broadcast by Iran’s national television, the fire started at an oil refinery close to Tabriz[2]. Tabriz is almost 520 km north-west of Tehran. The cause is yet unknown. On Saturday evening, another fire was reported – at a motor oil factory in Azarshahr, in the north-western part of Eastern Azerbaijan. The fire was put out Sunday morning.

The Iranian authorities assumed the attacks were initiated with various types of Israeli drones – due to the shadow war it wages against its rival in the Middle East, in a familiar context, when the nuclear agreement with the Western powers came crumbling down.

We can safely say that the incident occurred due to the rising tensions between Iran and the international community, regarding its nuclear programme and due to the fact that it allegedly provided Russia with drones to be used in its ongoing actions in Ukraine.

The negotiations between Iran, the EU and other six powers to restart the 2015 nuclear agreement, also known as the JCPOA[3], came to a standstill, after the USA withdrew from it, in 2018. The plan was meant to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Iran always insisted that its nuclear programme was peaceful.

Nevertheless, we must not forget the fact that at present, the Iranian theocratic regime is facing challenges, both within, and outside the country, because its nuclear programme causes rapid effects on its uranium enrichment process and Tehran is closer than ever to obtaining the quality needed to produce a nuclear weapon.

In the same context, national protests shook Iran, following the arrest in September 2022 of the Kurdish-Iranian Masha Amini, who died while in police custody. Moreover, its national currency, the Rial, dropped to a new low compared to the USD. In the meantime, Iran might carry on with providing Russia with certain types of drones that Moscow employs in the attacks against Ukrainian power-plants or civilian targets.

As the tensions rose after the above mentioned drone attack, we must highlight the fact that Iran’s relation with Azerbaijan is becoming more tensed, after an armed man attacked the country’s embassy in Tehran, killing a person and injuring two more.

On the 25^th January 2023, the Iranian Minister for Intelligence stated that 12 terrorist groups had been arrested in Iran, and that the country would take a serious stand against its enemies, should its national security interests be affected. The Iranian official said that they were affiliated to the Zionist regime and intended to sabotage Iran.

We must not forget the fact that the drone attack took place after in July 2022, the Iranian Minister of Intelligence claimed to have thwarted a plot that was aimed at sensitive facilities around Isfahan. Certain information that the Iranian national television broadcast in October 2022, included alleged confessions of alleged Komala members – a Kurdish opposition party that was “exiled” from the country and is currently conducting its activity from Iraq. The information the members provided show that they were targeting a military air base in Isfahan. Its members were trained by the Israeli Mossad.

Israel was accused of having launched a series of attacks on Iran, including in April 2021, on the nuclear facility in Natanz[4], causing damage to its centrifuges. Following these accusations, the Israeli head of defence said that his country’s operations in the region “are not hidden from the enemy”. Furthermore, in 2020, Iran accused Israel for conducting an attack that caused the death of its main nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

As a result, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who took office once more, recently (December 2022) believes that Iran is Israel’s greatest threat. In that context, it is worth mentioning the fact that due to the rising tensions between Iran, and the USA and Israel, the two countries held the greatest military exercise of all times.

As a conclusion, we can reassert that we are in the drone age, the age of modern warfare that employs misinformation, planning and conducting hybrid operations, its main objective being: surprise without being surprised.

[1] Western Azerbaijan is one of Iran’s 30 provinces and one of the tree provinces of Iranian Azerbaijan.

[2] Tabriz is a city in Iran the capital of Western Azerbaijan.

[3] The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is an agreement regarding the Iranian nuclear programme, signed on the 14^th July 2015 in Vienna, between Iran and P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – China, France, Great Britain and the USA – plus Germany and the EU).

[4] A city in Isfahan Province, Iran.