A warning salvo into the beating heart of Iranpublished at 21:10 British Summer Time 19 April

21:10 BST 19 April

Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondent

Image source, Reuters

For now, there’s a sigh of relief, a pause.

Israel’s limited strike, not officially acknowledged, has given space to Tehran. In this grey area, its leaders are casting it as a slap so weak it’s not even clear who did it. They don’t lose face after days of declarations vowing that even the tiniest Israeli invasion would provoke an immediate and harsh response.

Many had predicted Israel would wait until after Passover to retaliate. It appears to have decided it needed to hit sooner, to send a clear signal, just before the holiday starts. It may still strike again, in a different place, with different force, when this period ends.

But as my colleague Jeremy Bowen writes, this crisis really illustrates how badly Iran and Israel understand each other.

This may have been just a warning salvo into the beating heart of Iran, the province of Isfahan with its stunning Islamic architecture but also a nuclear facility, a major air base, the industrial heartland including drone and ballistic missile factories.

This round may be over, for now, but the seething hostility between two regional rivals is not.

We'll be closing this live page shortly, but before we go here's a quick round-up of everything that's happened:

• Two US officials told the BBC's US partner CBS News an Israeli missile strike has hit Iran
• Video shared with BBC Persian shows orange flashes in the sky over the city, showing what appears to be bursts of anti-aircraft fire
• Israel has not officially commented on the attack, while Iran downplayed the reports
• Iranian media quoted the country's foreign minister as saying no one was injured and no damage was caused
• Israel was reportedly targeting an air defence radar system near Isfahan, which protects the Natanz nuclear facility, said ABC News citing a senior US official

• The global nuclear watchdog IAEA confirmed no nuclear sites were damaged, but the head of the organisation said the targeting of nuclear installations is "deplorable"

• Leaders from around the world have urged for de-escalation
• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken refused to be drawn on whether the White House had prior knowledge of the attack, but said the US was "not involved"
• The head of the United Nations - Antonio Guterres -has said it was "high time to stop the dangerous cycle of retaliation in the Middle East"

Image source, Sabereen News

An pro-Iraqi Shia militia news channel on Telegram reports that the remnants of two Israeli missiles used in the attack on Iran have been found in neighbouring Iraq.

Sabereen News said in a post, external that “remnants of a Zionist missile” were found in al-Aziziya, which is about 60km (45 miles) south-west of Baghdad. Photos showed what appeared to be the largely-intact remains of a dark grey projectile lying in a field, with fins at one end and a rounded tip filled with electronics at the other.

Another post reported that the remains of a second missile were found, external in al-Latifiya, 25km south of the capital. The projectile appeared to be similar to the one found in al-Aziziya, but a number of men in uniform were seen inspecting it. Sabereen said they were members of the paramilitary Popular Mobilisation Force, which is dominated by Iran-backed militias.

Sabereen, which is affiliated with the Iran-backed Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia, claimed the remnants demonstrated “its failure to reach the target rather than being intercepted or exposed to ground interference”.

However, as we reported earlier, weapons experts have said they might be the single-stage boosters of Israeli-made, air-launched Rocks ballistic missiles, which could have been launched by an aircraft flying over Syria, further to the west.

After separation from the boosters, the re-entry vehicles carrying live warheads could then have continued towards targets in Iran.

Iran has downplayed the reports of an attack and the Israeli government has not officially commented.

BBC Verify has analysed videos sent to BBC Persian which show a succession of flashes in the sky.

Watch: Your Questions Answered on Iranpublished at 20:14 British Summer Time 19 April

20:14 BST 19 April

Watch a special Your Questions Answered on what's been happening in Iran today.

Answering your questions are BBC News' Chief International Correspondent, Lyse Doucet, BBC Persian's Majid Afshar and The Economist's Defence editor, Shashank Joshi.

Simply play the video titled Israeli Missile Strikes Iran, US Says: Your Questions Answered at the top of this page.

Speculation abounds over what weapons were used in reported strikepublished at 19:44 British Summer Time 19 April

19:44 BST 19 April

Jonathan Beale
Defence correspondent reporting from Lancaster House

Weapons experts believe Israel may have used a new air-launched ballistic missile to carry out its limited strikes on Iran - information that the BBC has not independently verified at this time.

Unnamed US officials have told US media that Israel fired three missiles from outside Iranian territory at an air defence radar near Isfahan.

John Ridge, a US-based weapons expert, suggested on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it could have been a new air-launched ballistic missile - known as Rocks - produced by the Israeli defence firm Rafael.

A British weapons expert also believed the attacks had involved the use of an air-launched ballistic missile by Israel for the first time.

The UK expert, who did not want to be named, has told the BBC: “I think they are sending Iran a message.”

Iranian sources initially said the attacks were carried out by drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and claim it was thwarted.

There has been no official confirmation in Israel that they carried out the attack or what caused the explosions.

Karine Jean-Pierre is now asked about comments by the Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani at today's G7 summit. Tajani said that the US was informed beforehand of Israel's strikes on Iran. Jean-Pierre is asked if his comment was accurate.

As with every other response to questions related to the strike on Iran, the White House press secretary declines to reply.

"I'm not going to speak to our diplomatic conversations," she says.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is pressed further by a reporter on the alleged Israeli attack against Iran.

The journalist suggests this level of silence is "really new" for the Biden administration and asks Jean-Pierre whether this was part of a strategy to de-escalate.

Jean-Pierre says she understands the interest, but adds: "I just don't have anything to share."

On efforts around de-escalation, she says the US does not want to see the tensions escalate and that was a "sentiment" expressed earlier at the meeting of G7 leaders in Capri, Italy.

Speaking to reporters moments ago, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre started her press briefing by saying she will "not be commenting" on reports coming from the Middle East.

Jean-Pierre refers to Secretary of State Antony Blinken's comments earlier today, where he said the focus was on de-escalation, and said the US was not involved in any strike.

When asked by a reporter why she doesn't have a comment, Jean-Pierre says she is not going to speak or speculate about reports that are out there.

We're about to hear from White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

Please stay with us as we bring you the latest lines from Washington here.

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Iran's foreign minister has said no one was injured and no damage was caused by the overnight attack on Isfahan.

According to Iranian media reports, Hossein Amirabdollahian described Israel's supporters in the media as having made a "desperate effort" to take a "victory out of their defeat".

His statement does not mention the missiles that US officials say Israel fired at Iran, instead attributing the attack to "mini-drones" that were all taken down.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has warned countries against targeting strikes at Iran's nuclear facilities.

Isfahan - where the strike is thought to have taken place - is home to several of the country's nuclear facilities.

Rafael Grossi told BBC Radio 4's PM programme that he let out a "big sigh of relief" after hearing no nuclear facilities had been affected by the strike.

His team, he says, had been "up most of the night...following the situation".

A strike on Iran's nuclear installations would have been "a terrible thing", Grossi says, but says that he's "not sure how effective that would be" due to Iran housing its facilities underground.

He believes the "issue of targeting nuclear installations seems to be getting on in the world these days, and we consider that absolutely deplorable".

Gaza's Hamas run-health ministry says that 34,012 people have been killed in Gaza amid Israel's bombardment in Gaza, and a further 76,833 have been injured.

The statement on Telegram adds that 42 people were killed and 63 were injured over the past 24 hours.

A senior US official says that Israel was targeting an air defence radar system near Isfahan that protects the Natanz nuclear facility, ABC reports, external.

The quoted official goes on to say that three missiles were fired by an Israeli aircraft from outside Iran on Friday morning, and that an initial assessment seems to suggest that the radar site was destroyed.

Earlier, Reuters quoted Iran's foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian as saying that Israel's attack did not cause any damage or casualties.

Image source, .

Image source, Getty Images

Meanwhile in Gaza, the United Nations condemns the intentional destruction of complex and hard-to-obtain medical equipment in Gaza's beleaguered hospitals.

Dominic Allen, the UN Population Fund's (UNFPA) representative for Palestine says that recent UN-led missions to 10 hospitals in Gaza found many "in ruins", and only a couple still capable of providing maternal health services, according to AFP.

He speaks of Al-Khair maternity hospital in Khan Younis, where "it didn't seem as if there was any piece of working medical equipment", adding that the birthing rooms "stand silent".

"They should be a place of giving life and they just have an eerie sense of death."

Allen's statement is also carried by UN News, external, where he is quoted as saying:

Image source, EPA

A bit more on those US sanctions on Israeli settlers.

The US Treasury announced earlier today that it has sanctioned two entities - Mount Hebron Fund and Shlom Asiraich - for their roles in raising money for settlers Yinon Levi and David Chai Chasdai, who were targeted by the first round of US sanctions in connection with West Bank violence.

Meanwhile, the EU is sanctioning four settlers - Meir Ettinger, Elisha Yered, Neria Ben Pazi and Yinon Levi - and two organisations - Lehava and Hilltop Youth - over violence against West Bank Palestinians, two months after the US and UK took similar steps.

Their abuses included "torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment", it said.

• Read our full story about the deadly West Bank settler attacks on Palestinians after an Israeli boy's killing

The US has sanctioned a far-right Israeli activist who, Israeli media report, is close to controversial far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

The state department designated Ben-Zion Gopstein, the founder and leader of Lehava, which opposes assimilation with non-Jews.

The US state department says that under Gopstein’s leadership, "Lehava and its members have been involved in acts or threats of violence against Palestinians, often targeting sensitive or volatile areas".

Gopstein was banned in 2019 from standing as a candidate for Ben Gvir's Otzma Yehudit party and in January was convicted of incitement to racism.

Image source, Getty Images

An update on our post from earlier about disruptions to air travel in the region.

Some flights to Iran have resumed following the alleged Israeli attack, after airports were closed and planes re-routed last night.

German airline Lufthansa has suspended flights to Israel and Iraq until Saturday morning.

The airline's subsidiary, Austrian Airlines, has also stopped its flights to Israel's financial centre Tel Aviv and Irbil in northern Iraq, as well as Jordan's capital Amman.

Both carriers previously announced they had cancelled all flights to Tehran and Beirut until the end of the month, and would avoid Iranian airspace during this period.

Meanwhile, Flydubai is yet to resume its flights to Tehran.

And Polish national airline LOT has cancelled flights to Tel Aviv and the Lebanese capital Beirut, as reported by state news agency PAP.

Image source, WANA via Reuters

The commander of the air defence system in Isfahan - where the reported strike is said to have hit - has told state-controlled Iranian TV that an attack was thwarted earlier today.

"The sound that was heard this morning in Isfahan was not an explosion," says Siavash Mihandoost. "It was the firing of the rockets of the powerful air defence systems at an object."

The incident has caused no damage, Mihandoost claims.

Iran has downplayed the reports of a missile strike on the country, but Mihandoost says the air defence system is "prepared and ready" to confront anyone "that threatens the land or air" of Iran.

Image source, Reuters

Here's more reaction from key regional players to the events overnight.

Russia says it has had contact with both Israel and its ally Iran.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Russia "made it very clear" to Israel that Iran "does not want escalation" as part of these discussions.

Jordan, which shares a border with Israel and played a role repelling the Iranian missile and drone attacks last weekend, has also warned against the "danger of regional escalation" and called for an end to Israeli-Iranian retaliations.

"We condemn all actions that threaten dragging the region into war," Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi says in a statement.

Across the Persian Gulf from Iran, the United Arab Emirates says "substantial solutions to the ongoing disputes and crises" in the Middle East must be found.

Its foreign ministry also calls for conflicts to be resolved through "dialogue and diplomatic channels".