TEHRAN -- The sound of explosions was heard near the central Iranian city of Isfahan and Tabriz in the country’s northwest after air defense systems fired at “suspicious objects” early Friday. 
Officials said important centers in the Isfahan province, including nuclear facilities, were secure and no incidents had been reported. 
“The sound was related to Isfahan’s air defense systems firing at suspicious objects,” Brigadier Siavash Mihandoust, senior Army commander in Isfahan province, said.
Space agency spokesman Hussein Dalirian said several drones had been “successfully shot down by the country’s air defense, and that there had been “no missile attack for now” on the country.
“No foreign aerial attack has been carried out so far against Isfahan or other areas of the country,” he wrote in a post on his account on X on Friday morning.
There were just “failed and humiliated” efforts to fly quadcopters which were downed, Dalirian said.  
The Iran Airports and Air Navigation Company said normal operations had resumed for flights at Iranian airports including Imam Khomeini International Airport and Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran after temporary delays.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced in a Friday post on X that Iran’s nuclear facilities were safe.
“IAEA can confirm that there is no damage to #Iran’s nuclear sites. DG @rafaelmgrossi continues to call for extreme restraint from everybody and reiterates that nuclear facilities should never be a target in military conflicts. IAEA is monitoring the situation very closely,” it said in a post on X. 
The incidents came days after Iran’s biggest drone and missile strike ever in the world on the occupying regime of Israel. 
Tens of thousands of Iranians on Friday took to the streets to voice their support for the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)’s operation. 
The rallies were held following Friday prayers in the capital Tehran, the central city of Isfahan, the southwestern city of Ahvaz, the north-central city of Qom, and many other locations throughout the country.
In the capital, demonstrators marched from the vicinity of the University of Tehran towards the iconic Enqelab Square, holding up placards that read, “We are grateful towards the Corps,” “Punishment of the aggressor,” and “The next slap will be harder.”
At the end of the Tehran rally, the participants issued a statement, describing the operation “legitimate defense” that demonstrated “the strength and esteem of the Islamic establishment”.
“The inefficiency of Iron Dome and the defeat of the Zionist regime’s supporters disrupted the world’s political and military equations,” it added.
“The Iranian nation will stand by the Palestinian nation until final victory,” said the statement.