The Israeli army said it had deployed a missile-defence system but could not confirm if the incoming missile was intercepted, though it said there had been no damage. The air raid sirens were sounded in Abu Krinat, a village just a few kilometres from Dimona, the Negev desert town where Israel’s nuclear reactor is located. Explosions heard across Israel might have been the air-defence systems.

The Israeli military initially described the weapon fired as a surface-to-air missile, which is usually used for air defence against warplanes or other missiles. That could suggest the Syrian missile had targeted Israeli warplanes but missed and flown off errantly. However, Dimona is some 300km south of Damascus, a long range for an errantly fired surface-to-air missile.

Iran-US nuclear talks: interim deal possible, Iranian officials say

Syria’s state-run SANA news agency said four soldiers had been wounded in an Israeli strike near Damascus, which also caused some damage. The agency did not elaborate other than to claim its air defence intercepted “most of the enemy missiles”, which it said were fired from the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the missile strike or comment from Iran. But on Saturday, Iran’s hard-line Kayhan newspaper published an opinion piece by Iranian analyst Sadollah Zarei suggesting Israel’s Dimona facility be targeted after the attack on Natanz. Zarei cited the idea of “an eye for an eye” in his remarks.

Action should be taken “against the nuclear facility in Dimona”, he wrote. “This is because no other action is at the same level as the Natanz incident.”

The Dimona reactor is widely believed to be the centrepiece of an undeclared nuclear weapons programme. Israel neither confirms nor denies having a nuclear arsenal.

While Kayhan is a small circulation newspaper, its editor-in-chief, Hossein Shariatmadari, was appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and has been described as an adviser to him in the past.

Zarei has demanded retaliatory strikes on Israel in the past. In November, he suggested Iran strike the Israeli port city of Haifa over Israel’s suspected involvement in the killing of a scientist who founded Iran’s military nuclear programme decades earlier. However, Iran did not retaliate then.

Iran says suspect behind Natanz nuclear site attack has fled country

Israel and Iran are arch-enemies. Israel accuses Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons and has opposed US-led efforts to revive the international nuclear deal with Iran. With Israel’s encouragement, then-president Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018.

02:10

Iran vows revenge as it holds funeral for assassinated nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrinzadeh

Iran vows revenge as it holds funeral for assassinated nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrinzadeh

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said Israel would not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapons capability, and defence officials have acknowledged preparing possible attack missions on Iranian targets. Israel has twice bombed other Mideast nations to target their nuclear programmes.

All the incidents come as Iran negotiates in Vienna with world powers over the US potentially re-entering its tattered nuclear deal with world powers. Negotiators there have described the talks as constructive so far, though they acknowledge the Natanz sabotage could strain the talks.

Israel’s government says the deal will not prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapons capability. It also says it does not address Iran’s long-range missile programme and its support for hostile proxies in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza.

Additional reporting by Reuters