Huge columns of smoke rose over the city of Baneh in the morning, according to the verified images. Videos shared of the explosion on social media said it hit a base belonging to Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).

Strikes also hit across the border in Iraqi Kurdistan on Wednesday, as the war in the Middle East raged across multiple fronts.

An exiled Iranian Kurdish group in Iraq told AFP a strike around 11:30am 0830 GMT by Iranian forces killed one of its fighters, and the IRGC later confirmed it had fired missiles at armed opposition groups in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.

Iran has designated Kurdish opposition groups, which previously fought its security forces in Kurdish-majority areas along the border, as terrorist organisations.

But in recent years these groups have largely refrained from armed activity, although they continue to actively campaign in exile against Tehran.

Last month, five groups, including the PDKI and PAK, announced a political coalition to seek the overthrow of Iran's Islamic republic and ultimately to secure Kurdish self-determination.

US outlet CNN has reported that the CIA has been working to arm Kurdish forces and that Washington has been in discussion with Kurdish leaders with the aim of giving them military support, citing several people familiar with the plan.

Kurdish authorities in Iraq enjoy strong ties with the United States, which led the 2003 invasion that toppled longtime ruler Saddam Hussein, who had persecuted the Kurds.