Israel said on Tuesday it had killed two senior Iranian security officials in an overnight raid in a major blow to the country’s leadership. Iran, which has so far confirmed one kill, has fired salvos of missiles and drones at its Gulf Arab neighbors and Israel, showing no signs of abating in the war.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and General Gholam Reza Soleimani, head of the Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force, “were expelled last night.” Larijani was considered one of the most powerful men in the country after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an airstrike on the first day of the war.
Iran’s judiciary news agency Mizan confirmed the killing of Soleimani. Iran has neither confirmed nor denied the killing of Larijani.
Both were instrumental in Iran’s violent crackdown on protests in January that challenged the theocracy’s 47-year rule. The killings rob Iran of key leaders during a war that presents the Islamic republic’s greatest test in recent decades.
With growing concerns about the global energy crisis, Iran launched new attacks against several of its Gulf Arab neighbors and against oil infrastructure across the region. Dubai, a major transit hub for international travel, briefly closed its airspace, the second disruption to flights in the city in as many days. An Iranian official said Tehran has no intention of giving up its tight grip on transit through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for oil.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump said NATO and other allies had rejected his calls to help secure the strait.
The Israeli military said it had launched “wide-scale strikes” across Iran’s capital and was stepping up attacks on Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
Israel says it has killed two top Iranian officials
Larijani, a former parliamentary speaker and senior policy adviser, advised the late Khamenei on strategy in nuclear negotiations with the Trump administration. He was sanctioned by the US Treasury in January for his role in “coordinating” Iran’s violent crackdown on nationwide protests.
Soleimani has been endorsed by the US and the European Union and other nations in helping to quell dissent for years through Basij.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the killings were aimed at weakening the Iranian government. “We are undermining this regime to give the Iranian people a chance to remove it,” he said.
There have been no signs of any anti-government protests since the war began, with many Iranians seeking refuge from American and Israeli attacks.
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The reported killings of Larijani and Soleimani occurred shortly before the Persian New Year on the eve of the “Chaharshanbe Souri,” or festival of fire. Officials have sent out threatening messages urging the public not to celebrate the festival, warning that the usually rowdy celebrations could be exploited by “rioters”.
Footage of the pro-government demonstrations was broadcast by state media on Tuesday, including images of some men in plain clothes brandishing assault rifles and shotguns on the backs of motorcycles – a sign the government wants to curb renewed protests against theocracy.
State television later showed a group of women surrounded by black and elderly men waving flags and portraits of slain former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iranian strikes put pressure on neighbors and oil markets
Iran continued to exert pressure on its neighbors and energy infrastructure around the region.
In Iraq, two drones were shot down by defense systems at the US Embassy in Baghdad, while a third drone crashed inside the embassy compound. Two Iraqi security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they were not authorized to comment.
An Associated Press journalist in the area saw a massive fire engulfing a structure in the compound. There was no immediate response from the embassy.
In the United Arab Emirates, an oil plant in Fujairah was hit and in Abu Dhabi a man was killed by debris from an intercepted missile – the eighth person killed in the UAE since the start of the war, officials said.
Saudi Arabia says it has intercepted the drones, but could ask for air defense aimed at incoming fire on Qatar’s capital, Doha.
Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, which carries a fifth of the world’s oil, has sparked growing concerns about tight energy supplies that are depressing the world economy.
A handful of ships have passed through the strait, and Iran says the waterway is technically open — just not to the United States, Israel and their allies. About 20 ships were hit since the war began.
As oil prices rise, Trump said he has urged roughly half a dozen countries to send warships to ensure ships can pass through the strait.
Trump on Tuesday criticized the US for not getting support despite the fact that “almost every country strongly agrees with what we’re doing and Iran cannot be allowed to secure a nuclear weapon.”
The European Union’s top diplomat says it does not want to drag the 27-nation bloc into a conflict with Iran. “This is not a war for Europe,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told EU lawmakers on Tuesday. “We have not been contacted.”
French President Emmanuel Macron has previously reiterated that France is ready to help defend the strait, but only after heavy bombing stops.
Israel attacked Tehran and Beirut
The Israeli military launched new strikes across Tehran early Tuesday and said it targeted Hezbollah militants in the Lebanese capital. Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel after the US and Israel attacked Iran last month.
In Iran, it said it hit command centers, missile launch sites and air defense systems. There was no immediate confirmation from Iran, where little information is coming out due to internet outages, round-the-clock airstrikes and tight restrictions on journalists.
According to the Iranian Red Crescent, more than 1,300 people have been killed in Iran since the conflict began.
The Lebanese army said three soldiers were killed in the Israeli attack. An airstrike near Beirut’s international airport killed one person and wounded nine others, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
Israel’s strikes have displaced 1 million Lebanese, or roughly 20% of the population, according to the Lebanese government, which says 912 people have been killed since the new Israel-Hezbollah war began two weeks ago.
12 people were killed in an Iranian missile attack on Israel. At least 13 US military members were killed.
Top US counterterrorism official quits on Iran war
The top US counterterrorism official resigned on Tuesday over concerns about the justification for military strikes in Iran. Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said he “cannot in good conscience support” the Trump administration’s war.
His resignation comes as midterm election races begin to heat up, reflecting dismay at the battle within Trump’s political base. Trump’s MAGA coalition sees it as the president’s failure to keep his “America First” campaign promise by leading the US into a war to raise gas prices.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said he always thought Kent, the president’s pick to lead the Counterterrorism Center, was “weak on security” and that if someone in his administration didn’t believe Iran was a threat, “we don’t want those people.”
Rising reported from Bangkok, Corder from The Hague, Netherlands and Magdi from Cairo. Associated Press writers Qasim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad; and Bassem Mrou in Beirut contributed to this report.
(tags to translate)Iran(T)Iran War(T)Israel(T)World
