There has been no damage to Iran's nuclear sites, the International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed.

In an X post on Friday, external, the UN agency's Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi stressed that nuclear facilities should not be a target in military conflicts, and urged "extreme restraint from everybody".

Earlier, we cited Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency saying that its nuclear site at Isfahan is "completely safe".

British security firm Ambrey says that commercial ships going through "the Arabian Gulf and Western Indian Ocean were advised to stay alert" in case of increased drone activity in the region, after an attack on Iran's central city of Isfahan.

Last week, Iran declared that its army had seized a commercial ship with links to Israel as it passed through the Strait of Hormuz, hours before the country attacked Israel with missiles and drones.

Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondent

A reported Israeli counterattack to Iran's unprecedented salvos sparks the next urgent question: what will Iran do next?

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi had vowed that the “tiniest invasion” by Israel would bring a “massive and harsh” response.

This is uncharted territory in a tortuous history of shadow wars and covert attacks between two states with abiding official enmity.

Iran's military chiefs have spoken of a “new equation” ever since the 1 April airstrikes on its diplomatic compound in Damascus killed seven Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps officials, including its most senior commander in the region. Those strikes are widely believed to have been carried out by Israel.

Tehran says its old doctrine of “strategic patience,” of playing a longer game when its assets and individuals are attacked, has ended.

Now it’s “strategic deterrence” – a readiness to hit back hard immediately.

In these first fateful hours, Iranian officials are speaking of no direct attack, no damage. Their next move may depend on how they cast this latest shot in this spiralling tit for tat.

Hours after the reports of attacks on Isfahan in Iran, there is a reaction from the UK.

Downing Street says its understanding is that the source of the strikes on Iran has not been officially confirmed.

But the prime minister’s office says Israel has a right to self-defence, and added “we have been stressing to Israelis that what matters now is de-escalation".

So far there is no official statement from Israel that is claiming the responsibility for the attack, but the US officials who spoke to the US media say that Israel conducted the strikes.

Jeremy Bowen
International Editor

The Iranians are playing down the significance of what's happened. They're saying there has been no attack. Official media have posted jokey photos of miniature drones.

Several questions arise.

Will hardliners in Iran's IRGC want to push back?

Has Israel plans for more attacks?

This could be PM Netanyahu's attempt to respond, without alienating President Biden any more than he has already. Biden has asked Israel not to respond to last Saturday's attack by Iran, to 'take the win'. Britain and other allies of Israel have contributed their own calls for restraint.

If this is it, another question is whether it will be enough for the former generals in Israel's war cabinet who are believed to want a strong response to, as they see it, restore Israel's capacity to deter its enemies.

Netanyahu's ultranationalist coalition allies have also demanded a fierce retaliation from Israel. One said the Israelis needed to "go berserk".

The best option for the region, in the opinion of western governments, is for both Iran and Israel to draw a line under the saga. It started with Israel's attack on the Iranian diplomatic compound in Damascus, killing at least seven people including three generals.

Even if this is the end of this stage of this crisis, new precedents have been set. Iran has hit Israel in a direct attack, and Israel has responded with its own direct attack.

That's a change in what's often referred to in the region as the 'rules of the game' of the long conflict between Iran and Israel.

The long clandestine war between the two countries has come out of the shadows.

Image source, Getty Images

The US has restricted travel for its embassy personnel in Israel and their family members "out of an abundance of caution" following reports of Israel's retaliatory strike on Iran.

The embassy said staff have been told not to travel outside the greater Tel Aviv region - including Herzliya, Netanya, and Even Yehuda - and the Jerusalem and Be’er Sheva areas until further notice.

"The security environment remains complex and can change quickly depending on the political situation and recent events," it said in a statement on Friday.

When news broke earlier of a possible Israeli strike against Iran, significant flight diversions started taking place across the country’s airspace, according to monitoring site FlightRadar24.

Flydubai also told several news outlets that it would be cancelling all flights to Iran on Friday, and that a flight from Dubai to Tehran had been turned around.

Iran is now signalling that the disruption is over and that it’s business as usual at its airports.

State news agency IRNA reported that flights have resumed at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport.

Meanwhile, Iran’s civil aviation organisation said restrictions previously put in place across several other airports have been lifted, according to Tasnim, a semi-official news agency.

Earlier state-run Mehr TV said that airports in Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz and across the country’s West, North West and South West, had all been impacted.

The US was told about Israel's plans to strike, but they did not endorse the action, unnamed officials are telling some American media outlets.

Both NBC and CNN have reported unnamed officials saying that Israel gave Washington advance warning.

"We didn't endorse the response," CNN quoted an official saying.

The White House and Pentagon are both yet to issue any comment on the reported strike, which Iran says amounted to only a few drones.

Iran has dismissed reports of a missile attack, with one official saying "The news of the American media is not true"., external

Image source, Tasnim News Agency

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, which is close to the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), has posted a video with a caption saying: “Isfahan’s nuclear site is completely safe”, external.

The footage appears to show a man checking his watch near the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Centre. The camera then zooms in on several troops standing around what looks like an air defence battery.

According to the World Nuclear Association, external, the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Centre includes a uranium conversion facility (UCF), which produces uranium hexafluoride.

Iran feeds uranium hexafluoride gas into centrifuges to produce enriched uranium, which can be used to make reactor fuel but also nuclear weapons.

Next to the UCF is an enriched uranium oxide powder plant (EUPP), which converts uranium hexafluoride into uranium oxide, and a fuel fabrication plant that produces fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor.

Uranium oxide can be converted into uranium metal. Iran has said it plans to use uranium metal to produce reactor fuel, but it could also be used to make the core of a nuclear bomb.

The Isfahan Nuclear Technology Centre also operates four small nuclear research reactors supplied by China.

Iran insists its nuclear activities are entirely peaceful and denies it has any ambitions to develop nuclear weapons. But Israel accuses Iran of developing nuclear capability that could be used to make a weapon.

Iranian state media are citing an army general in Isfahan province as saying that no damage has been reported.

"The strong sound heard in Isfahan was due to air defence firing at suspicious objects. There's been no damage,” he says.

There's been direct denial of a missile attack on Iran from the spokesperson for the country's National Centre of Cyberspace.

Hossein Dalirian wrote on X: "There has been no air attack from outside borders to Isfahan or other parts of the country."

He said Israel had "only made a failed and humiliating attempt to fly quadcopters [drones] and the quadcopters have also been shot down."

Iranian state media have reported similarly, saying that air defence systems were activated in several areas of the country overnight to engage possible targets, but there were no reports of any direct impact or explosion.

It adds that all facilities, including nuclear facilities, are safe.

Israeli strike appears to be very limited in size and scopepublished at 05:54 British Summer Time 19 April 2024

05:54 BST 19 April 2024

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

Israel made it clear it would respond, in some way, to Iran’s "swarm" attack of drones and missiles last weekend and now it seems it has.

If this is indeed the beginning and end of Israel’s response then it does appear to be very limited in size and scope.

Isfahan this morning looks normal.

All week Israel’s Western allies, notably the US and Britain, have been imploring its government not to carry out a heavy response to the Iranian missile attack.

Although that was a dramatic escalation, it was in itself a retaliation for Israel’s unprecedented air strike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus on 1 April that killed 13 people including two top generals.

How this develops now from here will depend on two things: Whether that is the end of Israel’s attack and whether Iran now decides to attack back.

Iran’s state news agency, IRNA, reports that flights have resumed at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport and Mehrabad International Airport.

Flights were earlier suspended across much of Iran as explosions were reported in the central province of Isfahan.

Australia is urging its citizens to leave Israel “if it’s safe to do so”, following reports of an Israeli strike on Iran.

“There’s a high threat of military reprisals & terrorist attacks against Israel & Israeli interests across the region. The security situation could deteriorate quickly,” the department of foreign affairs and trade said on its Smartraveller account on X.

“We urge Australians in Israel or the Occupied Palestinian Territories to depart,” it continued.

It also warned Australians in the region of airspace closures, flight cancellations and other travel disruptions.

Iranian state media said the country's air defences shot down three drones over Ifsahan.

Residents from the city have sent BBC Persian this footage which appears to show explosions.

Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

All week there’s been speculation about when and how Israel would retaliate for last weekend's unprecedented Iranian attack – which brought the shadow war between these two long-time enemies dangerously into the open.

Now, Iran’s Fars news agency says explosions have been heard near an army base in the city of Isfahan – activating local air defence systems.

Flights are reported to have been suspended over several Iranian cities.

On Saturday night, Iran launched more than 300 attack drones and missiles at Israel.

With the help of allies, most were downed before reaching Israeli territory. Israeli officials had indicated that they had to hit back for Iran’s strike to deter it from acting again.

Former US assistant secretary of state Mark Kimmitt has been speaking to BBC News about the significance of Isfahan and why Israel might have chosen it as the site of a strike.

“Isfahan really is to a great extent the centre of the Iranian nuclear programme in terms of training, research and, what some would say, the development of the Iranian nuclear capability.

“So it’s a likely site that Israel would hit because the greatest fear the Israelis have is not continued missiles today but a nuclear capability tomorrow.”

US officials have told CBS, the BBC's US partner, that an Israeli missile has struck Iran, but the scale of any strike, the exact target, and whether its target was hit remains unclear.

It's nearly two hours since we first heard reports of explosions in Iran. Here's what we know so far:

• Two US officials have confirmed to the BBC's US partner CBS News that an Israeli missile has struck Iran

• Early Friday morning, explosions were heard around the central city of Isfahan, Iranian media reported, saying three drones were destroyed after the country's air defence systems were activated

• Isfahan is home to an Iranian air base and the province has several military sites. There are no reports so far that anything was hit and Iranian media says all nuclear facilities are safe

• Meanwhile, several flights have been diverted around Iran's airspace, tracking sites show
• Israel's military and the Pentagon have both declined to comment so far

Some background

• It comes after Iran launched more than 300 missiles and drones towards Israel on 13 April in an unprecedented attack. Tehran has maintained this attack was in response to a suspected Israeli strike on its Syria consulate which killed 13 people
• Israel and Western allies were able to down most of them before they reached Israeli territory
• Israel had indicated that it would hit back to deter Iran from striking again, though international leaders have been urging the country to show restraint

We have live rolling coverage on the developments we've been bringing you this morning. Click play at the top of the page to follow along.

Image source, IRIB

Iran's state broadcaster IRIB is downplaying the reports of an attack.

It has posted a video on Telegram showing one of its reporters standing on the top of a building in the centre of the city of Isfahan.

"The city is safe and sound, people are living their normal lives," he says.

"A couple of hours ago sounds were heard in the skies. From what we know, multiple mini drones were flying in the skies of Isfahan when they were targeted.

"So far, provincial authorities have not given us any information. Some outlets had said that Isfahan's nuclear facilities were targeted, but based on our research this information is false, no place has been targeted."