Israel launched a revenge attack against Iran last night as tensions heighten in the Middle East – but should the UK intervene?

A US official confirmed to ABC News that Israeli weapons hit a site in Iran as state media downplay the strike this morning.

Iran fired air defence batteries early on Friday morning across several provinces and Hossein Dalirian, a spokesman for Iran’s civilian space program, tweeted that several small “quadcopter” drones had been shot down.

It comes after the UK helped shoot down a drone attack from Iran, with the US urging Israel not to retaliate. Mel Stride, Work and Pensions Secretary, told Sky News that both sides need to step back from the brink, with de-escalation “absolutely key”.

The semi-official Fars news agency reported on the sound of explosions over Isfahan, the country’s third-largest city, near its international airport.

Rishi Sunak told reporters at a news conference today it would be wrong to speculate on this morning’s attack on Iran. The Prime Minister said his government were still trying to clarify the facts.

He said: “It is a developing situation and it wouldn’t be right for me to speculate until the facts become clearer, and we’re working to confirm the details together with allies.

“We have condemned Iran’s reckless and dangerous barrage of missiles against Israel on Saturday, and Israel absolutely has the right to self-defence.

“But as I said to prime minister Netanyahu when I spoke to him last week, and more generally, significant escalation is not in anyone’s interest. What we want to see is calm heads prevail across the region.”