Iran’s armed forces pledged retaliation for the death of security chief Ali Larijani in an Israeli strike, with the army commander warning of a “decisive and regrettable” response.
Tehran also verified that Basij commander Gholamreza Soleimani was killed, after Israel had earlier asserted that its forces carried out the killing. It represents the most senior targeted killing in the conflict since the joint U.S.–Israeli operation that eliminated former supreme leader Ali Khamenei on 28 February.
The Israeli defence force urged inhabitants of a central Beirut district to leave early Wednesday, cautioning of a forthcoming strike on the Lebanese capital aimed at the Iran‑aligned group Hezbollah. In a social‑media bulletin, Arabic‑language spokesman Avichay Adraee issued “an urgent warning to residents of … Bashoura neighbourhood”, stating that Israeli units would target a Hezbollah installation there.
Donald Trump kept criticizing NATO partners, asserting that “we don’t need” their assistance in the Iran conflict after urging them to aid the United States in securing the Strait of Hormuz, while noting that “they should have been there”. Trump described NATO’s stance as a “foolish mistake” and again presented the matter as a loyalty test for the alliance.
The U.S. armed forces said they struck locations along Iran’s coast near the Strait of Hormuz because Iranian anti‑ship missiles threatened commercial navigation. U.S. Central Command reported that American units deployed “multiple 5,000‑pound deep‑penetrator munitions” in the attacks.
Joe Kent, former head of the National Counterterrorism Center under Trump, resigned, stating he “cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran”. In his resignation letter, Kent charged “senior Israeli officials and prominent American media figures” with running “a misinformation campaign” that ultimately “planted pro‑war attitudes to spur a conflict with Iran”.
Israel’s offensive in Lebanon has killed at least 912 individuals, including 111 children, and injured 2,221 others, according to the Lebanese health ministry, with more than a million people displaced.
The United Nations human‑rights office said Israeli strikes on residential structures and civilian infrastructure in Lebanon could constitute war crimes.
Earlier, the Israeli army issued a new evacuation directive for the coastal Lebanese city of Tyre, its nearby villages and Palestinian refugee camps, prompting an exodus from Lebanon’s fourth‑largest city.
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