Israel's Iron Dome defence system has long shielded it from incoming rockets.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday warned that Europe faced an existential threat from Russian aggression, calling on the continent to adopt a "credible" defence strategy less dependent on the United States.

It's Day 201 of the Israel-Hamas war – fire exchanges in Israel's northern border with Lebanon have only escalated in recent days even as the Israeli army prepares for a planned ground invasion of Rafah, where most Palestinian civilians are sheltering.

Argentina has asked Interpol to arrest Iran's interior minister over the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.

The strike late Friday targeted a residential building in Rafah's western Tel Sultan neighborhood, as reported by Gaza's civil defense.

After years of high-level US pressure on its ally to show restraint, Israel's purported attack on Iran takes the region and Western-led diplomacy into uncharted territory.

The limited nature of Israel's reported strike on Iran and the restrained immediate Iranian reaction shows both sides, in particular Tehran, are looking to de-escalate after weeks of tensions but the situation remains dangerously explosive, analysts say.

Air defense systems over several Iranian cities were activated, state media reported, after the country's official broadcaster said explosions were heard near the city of Isfahan. There had been no reaction from Israeli or Iranian officials to the overnight strikes and the extent of the damage remained unclear.

Explosions rocked Iran's central Isfahan province on Friday, according to state media, while US officials told American news outlets that Israel carried out a retaliatory strike on the Islamic republic.

Oil prices rallied and equities sank Friday as reports said explosions had been heard in Iran and Syria, fuelling fears of an escalation of the Middle East crisis after last weekend's missile attack on Israel by Tehran.

Air defense systems over several Iranian cities were activated, state media reported, after the country's official broadcaster said explosions were heard near the central city of Isfahan. ABC and CBS News reported the strikes had been carried out by Israel, quoting US officials. There was no immediate comment from the White House or Pentagon.

The US ambassador to the United Nations said Wednesday she believed sanctions were still an "effective tool" to discourage North Korea and its nuclear development, even as global enforcement of UN sanctions stumbles.

Israel and Iran traded threats after Tehran's first ever direct attack on its arch foe sharply heightened Middle East tensions and as the Gaza war ground on with no truce in sight.

During six months of war between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hamas in Gaza, Iran's proxies around the region have stepped up attacks on Israel and its allies, saying they are acting in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel's UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan the Security Council to designate the Revolutionary Guards, the Islamic Republic's ideological army, as a terrorist organization and to "impose all possible sanctions on Iran before it's too late."

Iran on Sunday urged Israel not to retaliate militarily to an unprecedented attack overnight, which Tehran presented as a justified response to a strike that destroyed its consulate building in Damascus earlier this month.

The move follows simmering hostilities after the killing of Gen Mohammad Reza Zahedi in an Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic building in Damascus.

An Argentine court has blamed Iran for two deadly attacks on Israeli targets in Buenos Aires three decades ago, declaring it a "terrorist state" in a ruling welcomed Friday by Israeli and Jewish organizations.

U.S. Ambassador Bridget Brink stated that Ukraine is currently under a heightened air alert, with residents advised to seek shelter for the third pre-dawn morning this week.

What do Iran, Russia and North Korea have in common? They are all oppressive dictatorships, led by corrupt, autocratic despots who despise opposition and murder their opponents.

Ukraine launched a drone attack on a Russian metal plant in a border region on Wednesday, causing a fire at a fuel tank, the local governor said.

Iranians will cast ballots in legislative and key assembly elections on Friday, with conservatives expected to tighten their grip on power in the absence of any serious competition.

As Iranians head to the polls for legislative and other elections on Friday, candidates have promised them on campaign posters to "fight corruption" and "fix the economy".

Since its inception in 1979, the theocracy, steeped in election manipulation, fraud, and corruption, has ruthlessly extinguished even the faintest flicker of peaceful political activity.

Authorities said they were suspending mobile telephone services across the country during voting "to maintain law and order" following a bloody election campaign -- including two blasts on Wednesday that killed 28 people.

Millions of Pakistanis vote Thursday in an election marred by violence that has killed dozens, allegations of pre-poll rigging, and the jailing of the country's most popular politician, Imran Khan.

Pakistan goes to the polls this week in an election that rights observers have dubbed deeply flawed, with the country's most charismatic politician languishing in jail, barred from taking part.

Iranian commentators warned Tuesday of a US military retaliation after Washington pledged a "very consequential" response to troop deaths, but largely agreed full-blown war was not in the offing.

The killing of three US troops is dragging the United States further into a proxy war with Iran that President Joe Biden had hoped to avoid and that he still hopes can be contained.

China's top diplomat Wang Yi and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan held "candid, substantive" talks in Thailand's capital Bangkok, focusing on the sensitive issues of Taiwan and the attacks in the Red Sea by Huthi rebels, officials said Saturday.