The Israeli military also confirmed it struck roads around Iran's Fordo enrichment facility to obstuct access to the site.

Israel struck Evin prison in northern Tehran, a potent symbol of Iran's governing system, in what Israel called its most intense bombing yet of the Iranian capital a day after the United States joined the war.

It remained to be seen whether the attack would ignite a regional war or provide the U.S. and Iran with an off-ramp from their intensifying confrontation.

Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi is preparing to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying he expected their conversation to “be in the interests of both countries”. Araghchi said late on Sunday night that he would have “serious and important discussions” with Putin in Moscow.

Israel intensified its bombing campaign on Tehran on Monday, launching wide-ranging strikes on Iran’s densely-populated capital city about a day after the United States bombed three critical nuclear sites in Iran.