Israel has launched a retaliatory strike against Iran with explosions reported near a military base.

Iran said it shot down drones near the facility, while two US officials said an Israeli missile hit Iran in the early hours of Friday morning.

The officials did not reveal he location or extent of the Israeli strike to CBS, though local sources have suggested three explosions were heard near the Isfahan air base, which sits close to a major nuclear facility.

An Iranian official claimed the explosions were a result of Iran’s air defence systems being activated, adding no missile attack had been carried out against Iran.

The attack “was intended to signal to Iran that Israel can attack its territory”, the Washington Post reported.

Israel’s strike caused no damage to Iran’s nuclear sites, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iranian state-owned media have said.

The agency is continuing to monitor the situation very closely and called for extreme restraint from all sides, stressing that nuclear facilities should never be a target in military conflicts, it wrote on Twitter.

Before the strikes Iran had vowed to retaliate immediately if hit, and “at a maximum level”.