ISFAHAN: Iran’s state media reported explosions in the central province of Isfahan on Friday, as US media quoted officials saying Israel had carried out retaliatory strikes on its arch-rival.

Air defence systems over several Iranian cities were activated, state media reported, after the country’s official broadcaster said explosions were heard near the city of Isfahan.

Israel had previously warned it would hit back after Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel over the weekend. Most of them were intercepted.

Iran’s Fars news agency reported “three explosions” were heard near Qahjavarestan, near Isfahan airport and the Shekari army airbase, while Iran’s space agency spokesman Hossein Dalirian said “several” drones had been “successfully shot down”.

Dalirian said on social media platform X there were “no reports of a missile attack”.

“Reports indicate there was no major damage or large explosions caused by the impact of any air threat,” the official IRNA news agency said.

Nuclear facilities in Isfahan were reported to be “completely secure”, Iran’s Tasnim news agency said.

ABC and CBS News reported the strikes had been carried out by Israel, quoting US officials. There was no immediate comment from the White House or Pentagon.

CNN quoted an official as saying the target of the Israeli attack was not nuclear.

The Israeli military told AFP: “We don’t have a comment at this time.”

Separately, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed there was no damage to Iran’s nuclear sites.

The agency continues to monitor the situation very closely and calls for extreme restraint from all sides, stressing that nuclear facilities should never be a target in military conflicts, it said.

The United States embassy in Israel told its employees and their families to restrict their movements.

“Out of an abundance of caution following reports that Israel conducted a retaliatory strike inside Iran, US government employees and their family members are restricted from personal travel outside the greater Tel Aviv” area as well as the Jerusalem and Beersheva areas “until further notice,” a security advisory issued by the mission on its website said.

Due to a “complex” security environment that “can change quickly,” the embassy “may further restrict or prohibit” the concerned people from travelling to parts of Israel, Jerusalem’s Old City, and the occupied West Bank, the advisory read.