DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel said Tuesday it killed two senior Iranian security officials in overnight strikes in a major blow to the country’s leadership. Iran, which so far confirmed one killing, fired salvos of missiles and drones at its Gulf Arab neighbors and Israel in a war that showed no signs of abating.
Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force, were “eliminated last night," Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said. Larijani was considered one of the most powerful figures in the country since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an airstrike on the first day of the war.
The Iranian judiciary’s news agency, Mizan, confirmed the killing of Soleimani. Iran has not confirmed or denied the reported killing of Larijani.
Both men were key to Iran’s violent crackdown on protests in January that challenged the theocracy’s 47-year rule. The killings would strip Iran of important leaders during a war that presents that greatest test for the Islamic Republic in recent decades.
With concerns growing about a global energy crisis, Iran launched fresh attacks against several of its Gulf Arab neighbors and oil infrastructure throughout the region. Dubai, a major transit hub for international travel, briefly shut its airspace, the second disruption to flights in the city in as many days. An Iranian official said Tehran had no intention of relinquishing its tight grip on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for oil.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump said NATO and most other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the strait.
The Israeli military said it had begun a “wide-scale wave of strikes” across Iran’s capital and was stepping up strikes 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 talks with the Trump administration. He was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in January for his role in “coordinating” Iran's violent suppression nationwide protests.
Soleimani was also sanctioned by the U.S., as well as by the European Union and other nations, over his role in helping suppress dissent for years through the Basij.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the killings were aimed at weakening Iran's government. “We are undermining this regime to give the Iranian people the opportunity to remove it,” he said.
There have been no signs of anti-government protests since the war began, as many Iranians are sheltering from the American and Israeli strikes.
The reported killings of Larijani and Soleimani came on the eve of “Chaharshanbe Souri,” or the Festival of Fire, shortly before the Persian new year. Authorities have sent threatening text messages urging the public not to celebrate the festival, warning that the normally rowdy celebrations could be used by “rioters.”
State media aired footage Tuesday of pro-government demonstrations, including images of some men in plainclothes branding assault rifles and shotguns on the back of motorcycles — a sign of the government wanting to prevent renewed protests against the theocracy.
State television later showed crowds of women wrapped in black and older men waving flags and portraits of the killed former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iranian strikes pressure neighbors and oil markets
Iran kept up the pressure on its neighbors and energy infrastructure around the region.
In Iraq, two drones were shot down by the defense system at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, while a third drone crashed inside the embassy compound. That's according to two Iraqi security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment.
An Associated Press journalist in the area saw a massive fire that appeared to be engulfing a structure in the compound. There was no immediate comment from the embassy.
In the United Arab Emirates, an oil facility in Fujairah was hit, and a man was killed in Abu Dhabi by debris from an intercepted missile — the eighth person to die in the UAE since the start of the war, authorities said.
Saudi Arabia said it intercepted drones, while air defenses could be heard targeting incoming fire over Qatar’s capital, Doha.
Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported, has sparked increasing concerns about a tightening of energy supplies that is unnerving the world economy.
A handful of ships have crossed through the strait, and Iran has said the waterway technically remains open — just not for the United States, Israel and their allies. About 20 vessels have been struck since the war began.
With oil prices rising, Trump said he had demanded that roughly a half-dozen countries send warships to ensure ships can pass through the strait.
Trump fumed Tuesday that the U.S. is not getting support “despite the fact that almost every country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot” be allowed to secure a nuclear weapon.
The European Union’s top diplomat says the 27-nation bloc does not want to be dragged into the conflict with Iran. “This is not Europe's war,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told EU lawmakers on Tuesday. "We were not consulted.”
French President Emmanuel Macron earlier reaffirmed that France is ready to help secure the strait, but only after heavy bombing has stopped.
Israel launches new attacks on Tehran and steps up strikes on Beirut
The Israeli military early Tuesday said it had launched new attacks across Tehran and targeted Hezbollah militants in the Lebanese capital. Hezbollah began firing rockets into the northern Israel after the U.S. 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 has been coming out due to internet outages, round-the-clock airstrikes and tight restrictions on journalists.
More than 1,300 people have been killed in Iran since the start of the conflict, according to the Iranian Red Crescent.
The Lebanese army said that three soldiers were killed in Israeli strikes. The Lebanese Health Ministry said that an airstrike near Beirut’s international airport killed one person and wounded nine, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Israel’s strikes have displaced more than 1 million Lebanese — or roughly 20% of the population — according to the Lebanese government, which says 912 people have been killed since the outbreak of a new Israel-Hezbollah war two weeks ago.
In Israel, 12 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed.
Top US counterterrorism official quits over Iran war
A top U.S. counterterrorism official resigned Tuesday, citing concerns about the justification for military strikes in Iran. Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said he “cannot in good conscience” back the Trump administration’s war.
His resignation reflects unease about the war within Trump’s political base just as midterm election races start to heat up. Trump’s MAGA coalition is splintering over what it sees as the president’s failure to keep his “America First” campaign promise by leading the U.S. into a war that is driving up gas prices.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said that he always thought Kent — the president's pick to lead the counterterrorism center — was “weak on security” and that if someone in his government did not believe Iran was a threat, “we don’t want those people.”
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Rising reported from Bangkok, Corder from The Hague, Netherlands, and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad; and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.
