Israel attacks Iran, sources say, with drones reported over Isfahan

Israel launched a direct attack on Iran on Friday, sources said, in the latest tit-for-tat exchange between the two arch foes, whose decades of shadow war has broken out into the open and threatened to drag the region deeper into conflict.

Iranian media reported explosions, but an Iranian official said those were caused by air defense systems. State media said three drones over the central city of Isfahan had been shot down.

Israel's leadership and the military were silent early on Friday. Iran has no plan to strike back immediately, a senior Iranian official said, while state media had an initially subdued response to the attack.