Israel strikes Iran LIVE: Latest updates as strikes reported in city that hosts nuclear programme and flights are diverted after Netanyahu ignored Biden’s plea for calm

Iran has hinted that it could build a nuclear weapon if Benjamin Netanyahu were to attack Tehran’s nuclear sites – and target Israel’s own nuclear facilities in response.

A senior Revolutionary Guard general said Iran could revise its “nuclear doctrine” in the event of an Israeli attack on Tehran’s nuclear facilities.

The comments represent the first time Iran has explicitly mentioned its suspected nuclear weapons program since Tehran’s unprecedented attack last weekend, in which Iran fired more than 300 missiles at Israel.

It was in retaliation for an April 1 airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, which killed thirteen people, including two generals.

Unconfirmed images circulating on social media appear to show explosions over Iran, but MailOnline has been unable to confirm the images.

Shortly after reports of attacks emerged, three drones were “successfully shot down by the country’s air defenses,” Iranian National Cyberspace Center spokesman Hossein Dalirain said on X.

“In the event that the Israeli regime again embarks on adventure and takes action against Iran’s interests, our next response will be immediate and at maximum levels,” Amir-Abdollahian told CNN.

Biden had warned Israel not to retaliate for Saturday’s attacks and urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “take victory” from the thwarted Iranian attack.

But the Israeli leader dismissed Biden’s warnings, insisting Israel would “make its own decisions” on how to respond to Iran’s attack.

Israeli officials warned the Biden administration of its intention to strike before the launch in previous days, but one official told CNN that the US did not “green light” any Israeli response.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant on Thursday afternoon, but a key source declined to confirm this New York Times as Gallant warned of the strikes that took place hours after the meeting.

Israeli military officials reportedly emphasized that today’s strikes were a “limited response” to Iran’s attack, which appeared to target military nodes that Iran used in their attack on Saturday.

Iran closed its airports in Tehran, Shiraz and Isfahan after the attack and canceled flights from the western part of its airspace for a few hours after the attack, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24.

By 0445 GMT, the airports and airspace had reopened and the closure notices in a US Federal Aviation Administration database had been deleted.

Before airports reopened, Flydubai said it had canceled its Friday flights to Iran. One of his earlier flights returned to Dubai, the report said.

An Iran Air flight from Rome to Tehran was diverted to Ankara, Turkey, Flightradar 24 showed.

Emirates, Flydubai, Turkish Air, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi and Belavia were among the airlines that continued flying over the part of Iranian airspace that remained open in the first hours after the attack early Friday, the tracking website showed.

“We are closely monitoring the situation and will make changes to our flight routes in consultation with the relevant authorities,” Flydubai said in a statement.

Iran sought to downplay any significant damage to its military facilities and flatly denied that any nuclear power plants had been destroyed, claiming that “no large-scale attacks or explosions from any aerial threat have been reported to date.”

Reports citing senior US military sources contradicted this, claiming that targets had been hit. No official comment has been released by Israel, Iran or the US.

Israel has carried out strikes on a target in Iran, defying President Joe Biden’s warnings about further embroiling the Middle East in conflict.

U.S. officials confirmed that strikes hit a location in Iran, but it is unclear exactly which target was hit or the extent of the damage.

Officials said the city of Isfahan in central Iran was hit at 5 a.m. local time. The city is home to one of Iran’s nuclear facilities, although US military sources reportedly said the target was not nuclear.