Israel said Tuesday it killed two senior Iranian security officials in overnight strikes, dealing a major blow to Tehran’s leadership, as Iran retaliated with new missile and drone attacks on Gulf Arab neighbors and Israel, intensifying the war.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz named the officials as Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, head of the Revolutionary Guard’s Basij force. Both men played key roles in Iran’s crackdown on January protests challenging the 47-year-old theocracy. Larijani was a top powerbroker after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death in an early-war airstrike.
Iran’s Mojtaba Khamenei rejects ceasefire, vows revenge on US and Israel
Iran launched fresh strikes on Gulf oil infrastructure, briefly shutting Dubai’s airspace, and reaffirmed control over the strategic Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump said NATO and other allies rejected U.S. calls to secure the waterway. Israel reported “wide-scale” strikes on Tehran and attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon, where airstrikes killed at least three soldiers. Iranian missiles also hit Israel, killing 12, while attacks from Iran-linked forces in Iraq and Lebanon continued.
The conflict has killed over 1,300 in Iran and displaced more than one million in Lebanon. Concerns are mounting over a global energy crisis as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is disrupted.