AN Israeli missile has hit Iran, two US officials have told the BBC’s US partner CBS News.
Iranian state media is reporting that flights have been suspended over several cities, according to Associated Press.
Iran has been on high alert after Israel said it would respond to an Iranian attack against it on Saturday night.
Explosion heard in Isfahan
An explosion was heard north-west of the Iranian city of Isfahan early Friday morning, according to the country’s semi-official Fars news agency.
Fars said that it occurred near the city’s international airport. But it offered no explanation on the possible cause.
Isfahan province is home to a large air base, a major missile production complex and several nuclear sites.
The incident comes as tensions remain high across the Middle East after Iran’s unprecedented missile-and-drone attack on Israel on Saturday.
Flights suspended over Iranian cities, state media report
More now on reports of flights being suspended.
Commercial flights have been paused over Iran’s major cities, including Isfahan, Shirax and Tehran, the country’s state media is reporting, according to Reuters news agency.
Isfahan is the central city where explosions were reported by Iranian media.
It’s been reported too that Middle East-based carriers Emirates and Fly Dubai had started diverting their flights over western Iran early on Friday morning, without explanation.
Iran’s foreign minister warned of ‘immediate’ response to any Israeli attack
In the hours preceding today’s reports, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned that his country’s response to any retaliation by Israel would be “immediate and at a maximum level”.
He made the comments during an interview on CNN on Thursday.
Earlier this week, he said his country’s attack on Israel on Saturday – which involved more than 300 drones and missiles – amounted to “exercising the right of legitimate defence”.
Tehran has maintained that the action it took was retaliation for a presumed Israeli air strike on its consulate in Syria on 1 April, in which 13 people were killed. Agencies
