Middle East updates: Iran reports explosions near Isfahan

The European Union imposed sanctions on Friday on four individual Israeli settlers and two Israeli organizations, while the US added two entities to its list of sanctions against settlers in the occupied West Bank.

The EU added to its asset freeze and visa ban blacklist two "radical" organizations, Lehava and the Hilltop Youth, citing attacks on Palestinians. It also added two individual Hilltop Youth leaders, Meir Ettinger and Elisha Yered, along with settlers Neria Ben Pazi and Yinon Levi. 

"The listed individuals and entities are responsible for serious human rights abuses against Palestinians," an EU statement said. 

The alleged abuses included "torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" and "the violation of right to property and to private and family life of Palestinians in the West Bank."

The EU's sanctions against Israeli settlers follow similar measures taken earlier by the US and the UK. It is reportedly the first time the bloc has sanctioned Israeli settlers.

Meanwhile, the United States on Friday extended its sanctions to include two entities for their role in raising funds for "two violent extremists" who were already placed under sanctions in February. The sanctions were imposed in connection with violence in the West Bank, which has surged since October 7 last year.

The US Treasury said the entities Mount Hebron Fund and Shlom Asiraich had been raising tens of thousands of dollars on behalf of Yinon Levi and David Chai Chasdai.

The US State Department accused Ben-Zion Gopstein, who it said was the founder and leader of the Lehava organization, of leading an organization that have been involved in acts or threats of violence against Palestinians.

"Such acts by these organizations undermine the peace, security, and stability of the West Bank. We will continue to use our tools to hold those responsible accountable," said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo said.

Germany expressed its displeasure on Friday with what it said was a "distorted" account of a row between Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during her visit to Israel earlier this week.

"Key points in this account of the hour-long meeting between Foreign Minister Baerbock and Prime Minister Netanyahu are wrong and misleading," the German Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Leaks appeared in Israeli media and some German media, including the tabloid Bild newspaper, which alleged Baerbock was shown footage of markets with abundant supplies of food in Gaza.

In response, the German minister allegedly offered to show Netanyahu pictures of starving children on her cellphone, but, according to reports, he replied that she should look at the photos of the markets and people on the beach in Gaza, as there were allegedly no cases of hunger there.

According to the Channel 13 report, Baerbock advised him not to show the pictures as they did not reflect the actual situation in Gaza.

Netanyahu, in turn, is said to have responded that the photos were real and that Israel was not showing an invented reality, as the Nazis did.

The German Foreign Ministry did not specify what aspects of the reports were allegedly incorrect, but insisted that the conversation had been misrepresented.

"The German ambassador was in contact with the prime minister's staff and made it clear what we think of such distorting publications," Baerbock told reporters on Friday. "Regret was expressed to us regarding the publication, whose source is unclear."

The German top diplomat added that "we do not report on confidential discussions."

COGAT, an Israeli agency within the Defense Ministry responsible for contacts with the Palestinian Territories and humanitarian aid, began publishing images and footage of food inside the strip this week. Though some aid workers and residents confirm some food has recently arrived, they stress it is still far from enough.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called for an end to "the dangerous cycle of retaliation in the Middle East."

Guterres condemned "any act of retaliation" and called on the international community to prevent "any further development that could lead to devastating consequences for the entire region and beyond," his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

The comments came after reports of explosions in Iran's central province of Isfahan earlier on Friday.

China on Friday said it would "continue to play a constructive role to de-escalate" Middle East tensions following earlier reports of explosions in Iran.

"China opposes any actions that further escalate tensions and will continue to play a constructive role to de-escalate the situation," foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.

The AFP news agency meanwhile reported that Russia had made it clear to Israel that Iran did not want an escalation, citing Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

"There have been telephone contacts between the leadership of Russia and Iran, our representatives and the Israelis. We made it very clear in these conversations, we told the Israelis that Iran does not want escalation," AFP quoted Lavrov as saying in an interview carried by Russian radio stations.

Germany's national carrier Lufthansa and its subsidiaries Swiss and Austrian Airlines announced on Friday that all flights to Israel would be temporarily suspended due to the current situation in the Middle East.

Four flights scheduled up until 7 a.m. (0500 UTC/GMT) on Saturday morning have thus far been canceled according to Lufthansa.

"As already communicated, flights to Tehran and Beirut will remain canceled up to and including Tuesday, April 30, and Iranian airspace will not be used," the airline said.

Lufthansa went on to say that it evaluated the safety situation and made its own decisions and did not rely on government assessments.

The decision comes after reports of explosions in Iran earlier on Friday and nearly a week since Tehran launched hundreds of drones and missiles on Israel.

The foreign ministers have condemned the number of civilians killed in Gaza during Israel's military offensive against the militant Islamist group Hamas that rules the Palestinian territory.

"We deplore all losses of civilian lives and note with great concern the unacceptable number of civilians, including thousands of women, children and persons in vulnerable situations who have been killed in Gaza," they said in a statement.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip on Thursday put the death toll in the enclave at at least 33,970. Its statistics, which organizations such as the United Nations accept as broadly accurate, do not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths.

Hamas is listed as a terrorist organization by Israel, the European Union, the United States and several other countries. Israel's offensive has come in response to a Hamas raid on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which more than 1,200 Israelis died.

The Syrian government and a monitor say that Israel has launched a missile strike on a military position in the south of the country.

Syria's defense ministry said in a statement that "the Israeli enemy carried out an attack using missiles… targeting our air defense sites in the southern region," which caused damage.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor said that Israel had struck an army radar position in the southern province of Daraa, after Israeli planes had been detected in Syrian airspace.

The SOHR said that Iranian-backed militia had been placed on "high alert," and were "fearing" a response from Israel after the drone and missile attacks Iran launched on Saturday.

Iran accused Israel of attacking its consulate in Damascus at the beginning of April, which killed several senior military officers, and said Saturday's attack was in retaliation for that strike.

Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven nations (G7) on Friday called for "all parties" to "work to prevent further escalation" in the Middle East after reports of explosions in Iran.

"In light of reports of strikes on April 19, we urge all parties to work to prevent further escalation. The G7 will continue to work to this end," G7 ministers said in a communique.

Ministers from Italy, the UK, US, France, Germany, Japan and Canada said they "demand that Iran and its affiliated groups cease their attacks."

"We will hold the Iranian government accountable for its malicious and destabilizing actions," they said after a meeting on the Italian island of Capri.

"We call on all parties, both in the region and beyond, to offer their positive contribution to this collective effort."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has urged de-escalation following an apparent strike on the Iranian city of Isfahan. 

Scholz said Berlin would work with its partners to achieve such a scenario.

"De-escalation remains the order of the day in the near future. And we will also talk about this with all our friends
and allies, and work together with them in this direction," Scholz told reporters on Friday.

There have been continued calls for restraint and de-escalation from European leaders, following reports of explosions in Iran earlier on Friday.

"We have to do everything possible [so] that all sides restrain from the escalation in that region," European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen told reporters during a visit to Finland.

"It is absolutely necessary that the region stays stable and that all sides refrain from further action," von der Leyen said.

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called for an "absolute de-escalation" and said the G7 would discuss it at talks on the Italian island of Capri.

Italy is currently hosting a meeting between foreign ministers of the Group of Seven nations on the island.

"We invite everyone to be cautious to avoid an escalation," Tajani told RAI news from Capri.

While British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he wouldn't speculate on reports Israel had carried out an attack, he called for calm.

"It's a developing situation, it wouldn't be right for me to speculate until the facts become clearer and we're working to confirm the details together with allies," Sunak said.

"Significant escalation is not in anyone's interest. What we want to see is calm heads prevail across the region," Sunak said following a speech in central London.

Airports in Iran look to be operating again after airports in Tehran, Shiraz and Isfahan were closed following earlier reports of explosions.

According to flight tracking website FlightRadar24, Iran had shut the three airports and cleared flights from the western side of its airspace following the attack.

By 08:15 a.m. (0445 UTC/GMT) closure notices from the US Federal Aviation Administration database showed that airports and airspace had reopened.

As events unfolded airlines scrambled to change flight paths over Iran and diverted flights to alternative airports or called planes back to their departure points.

Since Tuesday, 1,478 flights have been canceled to and from Dubai, approximately 30% of all flights, according to FlightRadar24.

The nuclear facility at Isfahan which is located in central Iran, operates three small Chinese-supplied research reactors.

It also handles fuel production and other activities for Iran's civilian nuclear program.

In February Iran announced that it was building a fourth research reactor in Isfahan, which state media reported would have a variety of applications, including fuel and nuclear material tests.

The country's nuclear program has been criticized internationally with experts outside of the country concerned that the program ultimately seeks to build nuclear weapons. 

Iran contends it has no such intentions and that its nuclear program is for civilian use only. 

Isfahan is also home to the subterranean Natanz enrichment site, which has been the repeated target of sabotage.

 

 

Nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said on Friday that there had been no damage at Iranian nuclear facilities following earlier reports of explosions.

"IAEA can confirm that there is no damage to Iran's nuclear sites," the agency said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter. 

The IAEA went on to say that its chief Rafael Grossi "continues to call for extreme restraint from everybody and reiterates that nuclear facilities should never be a target in military conflicts."

Iranian media reported that there had been explosions near Qahjavarestan, near Isfahan airport and the 8th Shekari army airbase.

Iran's Tasnim news agency reported that nuclear facilities in Isfahan were "completely secure."

The United States embassy in Israel on Friday issued a security alert warning employees and their family members of restrictions to personal travel in a number of areas.

"Out of an abundance of caution following reports that Israel conducted a retaliatory strike inside Iran, US government employees and their family members are restricted from personal travel outside the greater Tel Aviv (including Herzliya, Netanya, and Even Yehuda), Jerusalem, and Be’er Sheva areas until further notice," the US embassy said.

The security advisory went on to say that US citizens were reminded "of the continued need for caution and increased personal security awareness as security incidents often take place without warning."

The advisory added: " The security environment remains complex and can change quickly depending on the political situation and recent events."

Australia has told its citizens to leave Israel or the Palestinian territories "if it's safe to do so."

A travel advisory on Friday said there was a  "high threat of military reprisals and terrorist attacks ... across the region." 

Australian citizens had previously been told to reconsider their need to travel to both areas.

In a travel advisory update, the Department of Foreign Affairs warned: "Military attacks may result in airspace closures, flight cancellations and diversions and other travel disruptions."

"Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport may pause operations due to heightened security concerns at any time, and at short notice," it said.

Australia distinguishes between lower-risk areas in Israel and higher-risk border areas and the Palestinian territories.

"We continue to advise reconsider your need to travel overall due to the volatile security situation including the threat of terrorism, armed conflict, and civil unrest."

"We continue to advise do not travel to Gaza, border areas with Gaza, border areas with Lebanon closed by Israeli authorities and the West Bank [excluding East Jerusalem], due to the volatile security situation."