Israel says it killed 2 Iranian security officials as war escalates – National
Israel said on Tuesday it had killed two senior Iranian security officials in overnight strikes, which deeply hurt the country’s leadership. Tehran has defiantly fired new missiles and drones at its Gulf Arab neighbors and Israel in a war that shows no signs of abating.
Both Ali Larijani, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, and Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, head of the Basij Revolutionary Guard volunteer force, “was eliminated last night,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said. After the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an air strike on the first day of the war, Larijani is considered one of the most powerful people in the country.
Both men were key to Iran’s violent January protests that challenged 47 years of democracy. Iranian media did not immediately confirm the death. The assassination will deprive Iran of key leaders as the Islamic Republic faces its biggest test in decades in its war with the United States and Israel.
With growing concerns about the global energy crisis, Iran has launched new attacks on several of its Gulf Arab neighbors and oil infrastructure across the region. Dubai, a major transit hub for foreign tourists, briefly closed its airport, the second disruption to flights in the city in as many days. An Iranian official defiantly said Tehran had no intention of loosening its grip on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil waterway.
Israel’s military also said it had launched “wide-scale strikes” on the Iranian capital and was intensifying strikes against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
Israel says it has killed two senior Iranian officials
Larijani comes from one of the most famous political families in Iran. A former parliament speaker and senior policy adviser, he was appointed to advise the late Khamenei on strategy in nuclear negotiations with the Trump administration.
Larijani was sanctioned by the US Treasury in January as Tehran cracked down on national protests. It stated that he was “responsible for coordinating the response to the protests on behalf of the supreme leader of Iran.”
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Soleimani has also been sanctioned by the US, as well as the European Union and other countries for his role in helping to end years of conflict through the Basij.
Katz said the Israeli military will continue to “follow the leadership of the repressive regime in Iran, and cut off the head of the octopus over and over again and prevent it from growing back.”
Iran strikes pressure neighbors
Iran has maintained pressure on energy infrastructure around the region, hitting an oil facility in Fujairah, an emirate in the United Arab Emirates that has been targeted several times. State-run WAM news reported that no one was injured in the drone explosion.
Early on Tuesday, Iran again hit a tanker off the coast of Fujairah, one of about 20 ships hit since the war began.
A man has been killed by debris from a missile intercepted over Abu Dhabi, the eighth person to die in the UAE since the war began, authorities said.
Iran’s attack on the Gulf countries and its seizure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported, has caused increased concern about the global energy crisis and is destabilizing the world economy.
A number of ships have already cut through the crisis, and Iran has said the vital waterway remains open – not just to the United States, Israel and its allies.
“They are flying, launching missiles, should we sit down and do nothing to respond?” The Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, asked in an interview with state television.
As Washington is under increasing pressure due to rising oil prices, Brent crude, the international standard, remained above US $100 a barrel, rising more than 40 percent since the war began.
US President Donald Trump said he wanted about half a dozen countries to send warships to ensure that ships can pass through the Strait of Hormuz. But his pleas did not bring immediate commitment, with many saying they were reluctant to engage in a war without a defined exit plan and doubted they could do much more than the US Navy.
UAE briefly closes airport
The UAE closed its airspace again early Tuesday as its military said it was “responding to missile and drone threats from Iran.” The lockdown was quickly lifted, and it wasn’t long before the sounds of explosions were heard as soldiers tried to contain the incoming fire.
The brief shutdown reflected the balancing act Emirati authorities are facing in trying to keep their long-haul carriers, Emirates and Etihad, flying as Iranian attacks continue to target the country.
Countries around the region were also on fire: Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted drones, and explosions were heard in the capital of Qatar. Attacks by militants linked to Iran continued in Iraq, where the US Embassy in Baghdad was hit by explosives from blocked drones.
Israel launches attack on Tehran, Beirut
The Israeli military earlier on Tuesday said it had launched a new offensive in Tehran and targeting Hezbollah terrorists in the Lebanese capital.
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 has been leaking out due to internet blackouts, round-the-clock airstrikes and tight restrictions on journalists.
More than 1,300 people have been killed in Iran since the conflict began, according to the Iranian Red Crescent.
Israel did not immediately release details of its attack on Lebanon, but the Lebanese army said two of its soldiers were seriously injured in an airstrike in the village of Kfar Sir.
The Israeli strikes left more than a million Lebanese dead – or about 20 percent of the population – according to the Lebanese government, which says 850 people have been killed.
Some Israeli troops have been pushed into southern Lebanon, and there are fears that Israel is preparing a major attack.
Israel reported that two Iranian salvos were fired at Tel Aviv and the southern Sea of Galilee on Tuesday morning, and later in the afternoon. Another launch was also reported from Lebanon.
In Israel, 12 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire. 13 members of the US military died.
