YEREVAN, APRIL 19, ARMENPRESS. The drones shot down by the air defense systems over Isfahan, were fired from the territory of Iran, Hossein Dalirian, spokesman for Iran's National Cyberspace Center wrote on X.

“Until this moment, there has been no air attack from outside the borders to Isfahan or other parts of the country, and they have only made a failed and humiliating attempt to fly quadcopters, and the quadcopters have also been shot down,” he wrote.

Dalirian added that the news in the American media about the Israeli attack is not true.

“It seems that the American media have dreamed that Israel attacked Iran. Otherwise, a failed attack with a few quadcopters, which ended up shooting down a few small birds, is not considered an attack anywhere in the world,” he wrote.

According to the Jerusalem Post, Tehran played down the incident and indicated it had no plans for retaliation a response that appeared gauged towards averting region-wide war. The limited scale of the attack and Iran's muted response both appeared to signal a successful effort by diplomats who have been working round the clock to avert all-out war, the report adds.

According to the newspaper, Iranian media and officials refer to the incident as an attack carried out from Iranian territory, rather than Israel, obviating the need for retaliation.

Earlier a US official told ABC News that Israel, early Friday morning local time, launched missiles in a retaliatory strike against Iran. The missile launches follow Iran's attack on April 13, where the country sent more than 300 uncrewed drones and missiles toward targets throughout the country, Israeli military officials previously said. All but a few were intercepted by Israel and its allies, including the United States, officials said.

Iran carried out the attack in response to a strike on its consulate building in Damascus which killed 13 people, including senior Iranian generals.