Israel says it's killed Iran's Larijani as war intensifies

Israel said it killed Iran’s security chief, Ali Larijani, in an overnight strike, intensifying a region-wide war that shows no sign of abating well into its third week.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said Larijani, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, and the commander of Iran’s paramilitary Basij unit have both been “eliminated,” with Iran yet to comment on the claim. Earlier on Tuesday, Larijani’s Telegram account posted that he would release a message shortly.

If Larijani’s death is confirmed, he would be one of the most high-profile Iranian officials to be killed since Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of the now 18-day long war. Khamenei has been replaced by his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, with Tehran maintaining its retaliatory strikes around the region in response to the Israeli and U.S. assault.

The development came after Iran set a massive natural gas field in the United Arab Emirates ablaze overnight as it steps up attacks on key energy sites, while U.S. President Donald Trump appealed for international help — from both allies and China — to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for oil and gas flows.

The drone attack on the UAE’s Shah field, close to the border with Saudi Arabia, marks the first time Iran has damaged an oil or gas upstream facility in the country during the war. The UAE government said operations were suspended and there no injuries at the field, jointly operated by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. and Texas-based Occidental Petroleum Corp.

The UAE continued to face incoming drones and missiles overnight and into Tuesday. Iran hit a fuel tank at Dubai’s main airport — the world’s busiest hub for international travel — on Monday, creating a large plume of smoke over the city and a short suspension of flights.

The U.S. and Israel are still attacking Iranian sites daily, including in the capital, Tehran. Iran is retaliating with strikes across the Persian Gulf and Israel.

Israel is also stepping up an offensive in Lebanon, where it’s fighting a parallel war with the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. Israeli forces plan to occupy about a 10th of the country, according to Eli Cohen, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security Cabinet. The move is required to defend Israel’s northern territories, the military said.

Trump reiterated his appeals late Monday for other nations, including those in Europe, to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz as pressure grows on his administration to bring down surging U.S. gasoline prices and calm global bond markets.

“Numerous countries have told me they’re on the way — some are very enthusiastic about it, and some aren’t,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “Some are countries that we’ve helped for many, many years.”

No country has publicly said it will send warships to escort commercial vessels through Hormuz. Many military analysts have said that, without a ceasefire, it will be dangerous to send ships through Hormuz even if they have armed escorts.

Iran has attacked about 20 vessels in the Persian Gulf and near Hormuz since the conflict began.

Trump is frustrated that nations are so far noncommittal. He called out NATO and others, claiming they had leaned on the U.S. for “tens of billions of dollars” in protection yet failed to act when asked.

More than 4,000 people have been killed across the Middle East in the war so far, according to tolls from governments and non-governmental organizations. About 3,100 people have died in Iran, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, while the Lebanese government says 850 have been killed there by Israeli strikes.

Dozens have died in Gulf states and Israel, while the U.S. has lost 13 military personnel.

Oil prices have been steady this week, with Brent trading around $104 a barrel, after surging in the early stages of the war. The price of liquefied natural gas, fertilizers, aluminum and other commodities have also increased sharply — mainly because of the effective closure of the narrow Hormuz strait between Iran and Oman. It’s a vital waterway, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and LNG supplies normally flow.

Trump said he’d requested that China — among those he’s asked for naval support — delays a March 31-April 2 summit with his counterpart Xi Jinping for about a month. Trump said it was important for him to remain in Washington to oversee the war.

The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has forced the likes of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait to reduce oil output. Qatar, a top three supplier of LNG, has shut down production of the fuel.

Only a trickle of vessels is beginning to exit the Persian Gulf through Hormuz, most of them bound for countries such as China and India.

“We’re hammering their capacity to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, with more than 30 mine-laying ships destroyed,” Trump said. He added U.S. officials weren’t certain whether Iran has actually laid mines in the strait but warned that it would be “a form of suicide” if they did.

The president threatened to expand strikes on Kharg Island, Iran’s main export hub, to target oil infrastructure. That follows U.S. hits on the island’s military sites over the weekend.

Surging oil prices since the start of the war — up about 40% in the past two weeks — have pushed up U.S. gasoline prices. That’s bad news for Trump with midterm elections that will decide control of both houses of Congress due in November. The average cost of a gallon of gasoline has risen each day since the conflict began to around $3.70, according to the American Automobile Association.

Trump on Monday said he was “very proud” of his decision to start the war, which began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. He argued that without U.S. action, Iran would have had nuclear weapons — something the regime in Tehran denies seeking — and that other nations should be “thanking me.”

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—With assistance from Shruthi Rajendran and Joumanna Bercetche.