DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) \u2014 Israel said Tuesday it killed two senior Iranian security officials in overnight strikes in a major blow to the country\u2019s leadership. Tehran defiantly fired new salvos of missiles and drones at its Gulf Arab neighbors and Israel in a war that\u00a0showed no signs of abating.<\/p>\n
Both Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran\u2019s Supreme National Security Council, and Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard\u2019s all-volunteer Basij force, were \u201celiminated last night,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said. Following\u00a0the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei\u00a0in an airstrike on the\u00a0first day of the war, Larijani was considered one of the most powerful figures in the country.<\/p>\n
Both men were key to Iran\u2019s violent crackdown on\u00a0protests in January\u00a0that challenged the theocracy\u2019s 47-year rule. Iranian state media did not immediately confirm either death. The killings would strip Iran of important leaders as the Islamic Republic faces its greatest test in recent decades in its war with the United States and Israel.<\/p>\n
With concerns growing about a\u00a0global energy crisis, Iran fired new attacks at 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 defiantly said Tehran had no intention of relinquishing its tight grip on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for oil.<\/p>\n
The Israeli military also said it had begun a \u201cwide-scale wave of strikes\u201d across Iran\u2019s capital and was stepping up strikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.<\/p>\n
Larijani hails from one of Iran\u2019s most famous political families. A former parliamentary speaker and senior policy adviser, he was appointed to advise the late Khamenei on strategy in nuclear talks with the Trump administration.<\/p>\n
Larijani was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in January as Tehran violently suppressed nationwide protests. It identified him as being \u201cresponsible for coordinating the response to the protests on behalf of the supreme leader of Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soleimani has also been sanctioned by the U.S., as well as the European Union and other nations over his role in helping suppress dissent for years through the Basij.<\/p>\n
Katz said the Israeli military would continue \u201cpursuing the leadership of the terror and oppression regime in Iran, and to repeatedly cut off the head of the octopus and prevent it from regrowing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Iran kept up the pressure on the energy infrastructure around the region, hitting an oil facility in Fujairah, an emirate in the United Arab Emirates that has been repeatedly targeted. State-run WAM news reported that no one had been injured in the blast from the drone strike.<\/p>\n
Early Tuesday, Iran also hit a tanker anchored off the coast of Fujairah, one of about 20 vessels struck since the war began.<\/p>\n
A man was killed by the debris of a missile intercepted over Abu Dhabi, the eighth person to die in the UAE since the start of the war, authorities said.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world\u2019s oil is transported, have given rise to increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are\u00a0unnerving the world economy.<\/p>\n
A handful of ships have crossed through the strait, and Iran has said the vital waterway technically remains open \u2014 just not for the United States, Israel and their allies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are flying, launching missiles, should we just sit back and do nothing in response?\u201d Iran\u2019s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, asked in an interview on state television.<\/p>\n
With Washington under increasing pressure over rising oil prices, Brent crude, the international standard, remained over $100 a barrel, up more than 40% since the war started.<\/p>\n
U.S. President Donald Trump said\u00a0he had demanded\u00a0that roughly a half-dozen countries send warships to ensure ships can pass through the\u00a0Strait of Hormuz. But his appeals brought no immediate commitments, with many saying they are\u00a0hesitant to get involved\u00a0in a war with no defined exit plan and skeptical that they could do more than the U.S. Navy.<\/p>\n
The UAE shut down its airspace again early Tuesday as its military reported it was \u201cresponding to missile and drone threats from Iran.\u201d The closure was soon lifted, and not long after the sounds of explosions could be heard as the military worked to intercept incoming fire.<\/p>\n
The brief closure showed the balancing act Emirati authorities face in trying to keep their long-haul carriers, Emirates and Etihad, flying as Iranian attacks continue to target the country.<\/p>\n
Countries around the region also came under fire: Saudi Arabia said it intercepted drones, while explosions were heard over the capital of Qatar. Attacks from Iran-linked proxy forces continued in Iraq, where the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad was hit with shrapnel from intercepted drones.<\/p>\n
The Israeli military early Tuesday said it had launched new attacks across Tehran and targeted Hezbollah militants in the Lebanese capital.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
More than 1,300 people have been killed in Iran since the start of the conflict, according to the Iranian Red Crescent.<\/p>\n
Israel did not immediately release details of its attacks on Lebanon, but the Lebanese army said two of its soldiers were seriously wounded in an airstrike on the village of Kfar Sir.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s strikes have displaced more than 1 million Lebanese \u2014 or roughly 20% of the population \u2014 according to the Lebanese government, which says some 850 people have been killed.<\/p>\n
Some Israeli troops have pushed into southern Lebanon, and there are fears Israel is preparing a large-scale invasion.<\/p>\n
Israel reported two Iranian salvos early Tuesday fired toward Tel Aviv and an area south of the Sea of Galilee, and then more later in the day. More launches from Lebanon were also reported.<\/p>\n
In Israel, 12 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Rising reported from Bangkok and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia; Giovanna Dell’Orto in Miami; Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad; and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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