Israel told US its retaliation plans against Iran and they 'didn't endorse response'

Explosions have been seen in Iran (Image: Twitter)

Israel made the US aware of its plans to retaliate against Iran before the revenge attack took place.

Iranian airspace has been closed and explosions have been heard as tensions esculate in the Middle East - with a US official confirming to ABC News that Israeli weapons hit a site near the city of Isfahan.

Israel had told the US on Thursday it would be retaliating against Iran in the coming days, a senior US official said.

"We didn't endorse the response," the official said.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant on Thursday about “regional threats and Iran’s destabilising actions in the Middle East,” according to a Pentagon readout.

The US has urged Israel to show restraint, despite an Israeli official stating: "Any response will be coordinated with the Americans."

READ MORE: WW3 fears as Israel strikes back at Iran despite promise of 'maximum level' response

Biden was aware of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans (Image: Getty)

US President Joe Biden previously told Netanyahu that his country would not participate in any counteroffensive against Iran.

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Israel and other nations were "effective" at neutralizing the threat from Iran over the weekend, adding that the attack could have caused a "significant loss of life."

He said Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have "consulted extensively with partners in the region and around the world." They are calling for the international community to "act as a united front".

This comes after Iran launched hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel at the weekend after two Iranian generals were killed when an Iranian consular building in the Syrian capital of Damascus was hit by a suspected Israeli strike.

Now Israel has hit back, with Fars news agency reported on the sound of explosions over Isfahan, the country's third largest city, near its international airport.

"The city of Ghahjaworstan is located near Isfahan Airport and the eighth hunting base of the Army Air Force," FARS news said.

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.

Retired US Army General Mike Lyons told CNN: "I think they used manned aircraft in this operation to ensure their targeting was precise. They went after military targets. This sends a signal to Iran that we can strike that facility (Isfahan's nuclear plant) if we want."