US Secretary of State Antony Blinken declined to confirm the Israeli attack against Iran early Friday but stressed that the United States has not been involved in any offensive operations.

Talking to reporters following a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Italy's Capri, Blinken said that the group is focused on and working to "de-escalate tensions" and avert "any potential conflict."

Meanwhile, Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in a separate news conference prior to Blinken's that the US was "informed at the last minute" without providing further details.

Iranian air defenses repelled during the early hours of Friday a relatively small drone attack in Tabriz and Isfahan, which was likely launched domestically. The Iranian news agency IRNA reported that short-range and medium-range Iranian air defense batteries repelled the attack. 

Al Mayadeen's correspondent, citing the spokesperson of the Iranian Space Agency, said that air defense batteries responded to three targets over Isfahan. Meanwhile, the explosions heard in Tabriz were also due to the activation of anti-air systems.

Iranian media reported that none of the blasts took place on the ground.

Read more: Israeli hands are tied, no good option regarding Iran: Financial Times

A bolder Iran

An op-ed published in The Telegraph on Friday said that what was supposed to be an attack to restore deterrence, the Israeli attack on Iran was quite the opposite; it further proved to the Islamic Republic that the United States, "Israel", and their allies are "alien to this concept."

The writer accused the entity's international allies of "muting" its attack and trying to contain it by attaching "limited" to it in fear of escalation, pointing out that this "would hardly strike fear in the heart" of the Islamic Republic. Additionally, by not publicly claiming responsibility, "Israel" stuck to "deniability with an inbuilt exit from the spiral of escalation."

The piece considered that the Israeli "limited" aggression has emboldened Iran even more to carry out a larger strike against the occupation entity any time in the future.

In conclusion, the author said that the West, including the United States, has failed to effectively counter Iran's action policy, and thus Tehran was able to advance its plans with relative impunity.