JUST IN: Israeli defense minister says Ali Larijani, top Iranian security official, killed by Israel in overnight strike
Kuwait says 2 medics injured in attack
Two medics were injured when shrapnel fell on an ambulance center in Kuwait during an attack on the Gulf nation, authorities said.
The Health Ministry said the injured were taken to a hospital and they are in stable condition.
Report of Soleimani’s death comes on eve of Iran’s Festival of Fire
The killing of Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani comes on the eve of “Chaharshanbe Souri,” or the Festival of Fire in Iran on Tuesday night.
The festival comes in the hours just before the Wednesday before Nowruz, which is the Persian New Year.
To celebrate, people light bonfires, set off fireworks and send wish lanterns floating off into the night sky. Others jump over and around fires, chanting “My yellow is yours, your red is mine,” invoking the replacement of ills with warmth and energy.
Authorities already have sent threatening text messages to the public, urging them not to take part in the festival, worried it could lead to renewed protests against the theocracy as it faces likely the greatest challenge to its survival since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who had drawn people into the streets during nationwide protests in January, issued a warning Monday saying Iranian authorities “issued threats of deadly force to suppress these peaceful celebrations and prevent the Iranian people from honoring their heritage.”
He earlier urged demonstrations in front of Iranian embassies abroad on Tuesday.
Israel says it has killed the head of Iran’s Basij force
The Israeli military said Tuesday it killed Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani in a strike on Monday.
Iran did not immediately acknowledge Soleimani’s killing.
The all-volunteer force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is used to suppress demonstrations in the country.
“The Basij forces are part of the armed apparatus of the Iranian terror regime,” the Israeli military said in its statement. “During internal protests in Iran, particularly in recent periods as demonstrations intensified, Basij forces under Soleimani’s command led the main repression operations, employing severe violence, widespread arrests, and the use of force against civilian demonstrators.”
The U.S. Treasury listed Soleimani’s birth year as 1965. He has been sanctioned by the U.S., the European Union and other nations over his role in helping suppress dissent for years through the Basij.
“The Basij organization used lethal force to suppress the November 2019 protests in Iran, causing the deaths of and injuries to unarmed protesters and other civilians in many cities across the country,” the EU said in sanctioning him. “As head of the Basij organization, Gholamreza Soleimani bears responsibility for the violent suppression of the protests and serious human rights violations in Iran.”
Since the war began Feb. 28, Israel has launched specific attacks targeting Iran’s leadership, killing 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other military commanders.
Killing Soleimani likely could further strain the command and control of the Basij, which would be crucial in putting down any uprising against the theocracy.
The Basij and other internal security forces have been a target of attack by both the Americans and the Israelis so far.
JUST IN: Israeli military says it killed the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ all-volunteer Basij force
Israeli airstrike wounds 5 Lebanese soldiers in southern Lebanon
Lebanon’s army said two of five soldiers were seriously wounded after an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday morning on Kfar Sir village.
Iran and Iraq discussing passage of oil tankers through strait
Iran and Iraq are holding talks about allowing transit of Iraq’s oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, Iraqi
Oil Minister Hayan Abdul-Ghani said Tuesday.
The comments were carried by the country’s state-run Iraq News Agency.
The war and the virtual closure of the strait have severely impacted Iraq, where the economy depends overwhelmingly on oil.
The news agency said Iraq’s oil production has been reduced to 1.2 million barrels daily, down from 4.3 million barrels daily prior to the war.
China says it is ‘in communication’ with US over Trump visit
China is communicating with the U.S. about issues including a planned visit by President Donald Trump, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tuesday.
“China and the U.S. are in communication on issues including the timing of President Trump’s visit to China,” Lin Jian said in Beijing.
Trump on Monday said because of the war he proposed a delay to the trip, which was scheduled for late March to early April.
Lin added that U.S. officials clarified “the visit is unrelated to the issue of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.”
Trump told the Financial Times that he would like to know before leaving for Beijing whether China would help secure the strait.
A U.S. trade official on Monday walked back the statement, saying a postponement would be unrelated to China’s help in the strait.
Israel says it struck infrastructure in 3 Iranian cities
The Israeli military says it conducted a “combined wave of strikes” against infrastructure in Tehran, Shiraz and Tabriz on Monday.
The military says the strikes in Tehran hit command centers, launch sites and air defense systems.
In Shiraz, the internal security forces’ command center and a ballistic missile site were hit.
In Tabriz, the strikes “dismantled” additional air defense systems, the military says.
South Korea says 26 vessels stuck near Strait of Hormuz
South Korea says 26 of its vessels and 183 crewmembers remain in waters around the Strait of Hormuz.
Park Il, spokesperson of South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, said Tuesday that officials are in close contact with port authorities in nearby countries to facilitate the provision of food and other supplies.
Park said they plan to take unspecified additional steps if the situation worsens.
South Korea has been cautious about discussing support for U.S. efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz after President Donald Trump urged several governments, including Seoul, to deploy naval assets.
“The government will maintain close communication with the U.S. side and conduct a close and careful review of the issue, taking into account various factors and the changing regional situation,” Park said.
Iranian ambassador in Turkmenistan calls for US withdrawal
Ali Mojtaba Rouzbehani, Iran’s ambassador in Turkmenistan, says it will defend the Strait of Hormuz and called for U.S. forces to withdraw.
“I have a proposal for Trump: if he wants stability and passage through the Strait of Hormuz, he must ensure that his military forces withdraw from the strait,” the ambassador said in Ashgabat on Monday.
“The Strait of Hormuz is not currently closed. But as a result of this aggression, no ships can pass through the strait, and we will defend its stability and security,” he said.
The ambassador added that U.S. and Israeli forces “have other targets in the region.”
“They’ve targeted water treatment plants, fuel storage facilities, and other facilities. These ongoing threats must end,” he said.
Iranian parliament speaker says Strait of Hormuz cannot be ‘as it was before’
The speaker of Iran’s parliament told Iranian state television that the Strait of Hormuz cannot be “as it was before” as Iranian fire keeps nearly all traffic out of the strategic waterway.
Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf made the comment in an interview aired Tuesday as Iranian fire continues to target shipping in the region.
“They are flying, launching missiles, should we just sit back and do nothing in response, or not? Naturally, it is our undeniable right. We must do this,” Qalibaf said.
“Let me speak clearly, the Strait of Hormuz has always been important, one of the world’s key strategic chokepoints,” Qalibaf said. “But look at this strategic mistake by the Americans and the Zionist regime, this trap they set, and the recklessness they showed, has turned this potential into an active reality. This is a high-risk opportunity.”
The strait typically sees 20% of all oil and natural gas traded pass through it.
Australia and New Zealand call for end to war
Australian and New Zealand government ministers agree the Middle East war should end as quickly as possible.
Australian and New Zealand foreign and defense ministers met for annual talks Tuesday in Australia’s capital Canberra.
“We discussed the escalating situation in the Middle East. We want this crisis to end as quickly possible and move to a negotiated solution,” New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters told reporters at a joint press conference after the meeting.
Kuwait says 16 people arrested over Hezbollah links
Kuwaiti security forces arrested 16 people suspected to have links with Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group allied with Iran, the state-run Kuwait News Agency reported.
The interior ministry said in a statement late Monday that the 14 Kuwaiti and two Lebanese suspects sought to “create chaos, and disrupt public order” during the war, the agency reported.
The ministry did not identify the people arrested. It was not immediately clear if they had lawyers.
It said authorities found firearms, ammunition, weapons for training and assassinations and encrypted communication devices and drones.
The ministry said the suspects aimed to recruit others to join Hezbollah.
Kuwait has for years experienced attacks that authorities linked to Iran.
Pakistani man killed in UAE missile attack
A Pakistani man was killed Tuesday morning in a missile attack on the United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi, authorities say.
The Abu Dhabi Media Office says the man was killed when shrapnel fell in the Bani Yas area while air defenses were intercepting a ballistic missile.
The death toll in the UAE since the start of the war is now at eight people including two soldiers, according to authorities.
Airstrikes heard in Tehran overnight
In Iran’s capital, Tehran, witnesses heard airstrikes in the night even as heavy rain and a thunderstorm swept across the area.
A dozen drones intercepted over eastern Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry says it has intercepted a
dozen drones on Tuesday morning over the country’s vast Eastern
Province, home to oil infrastructure.
Fire breaks out in Qatar following missile attack
A fire broke out in an industrial area in Qatar on Tuesday after an incoming missile was intercepted, the interior ministry said.
Explosions heard in Doha, alerts in Dubai
An Associated Press journalist in Qatar heard explosions as air defenses near Doha worked to intercept incoming Iranian fire on Tuesday morning.
Qatar’s Defense Ministry said it intercepted a missile attack on the country a short time later.
In the United Arab Emirates, Dubai residents received a missile alert around the same time.
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