Israel said on Wednesday it had killed Iran’s intelligence minister in the second strike on a top leadership figure in two days, and had authorised the military to ​target any senior Iranian official it can locate.

Israel also hit central Beirut, destroying apartment buildings in some of the most intense airstrikes on the Lebanese capital for decades. Israel’s other front in the war ‌it launched with the United States against Iran.

A day after killing Iran’s powerful security chief Ali Larijani in the highest-level targeted killing since that of the supreme leader on the war’s first day, Israel said it had killed Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib.

“No one in Iran has immunity, and everyone is in the crosshairs,” Defence Minister Israel Katz said.

“The Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and I have authorised the Israel Defence Forces to target any senior Iranian official for whom an intelligence and operational opportunity arises, without the need for additional approval.”

It appeared to be the first time Israel ​has publicly stated that it would let the military target enemy officials without seeking special permission from political leaders for missions. Katz did not say when the order had been given.

In Tehran, thousands of people appeared ​in the streets for a funeral for Larijani and other figures killed in US-Israeli strikes. The crowd waved Iranian flags and carried portraits of the slain officials as a ⁠eulogist sang: “Martyrs are leading the way, they've become more alive, burning with love.”

Iran retaliated for the killing of Larijani by firing missiles with multiple warheads at Israel, attacks which Israeli authorities said killed two people near Tel Aviv.

Tehran said ​it fired overnight on Tel Aviv, Haifa and Beersheba in Israel, and at US bases in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the US and Israel failed to understand that the Islamic Republic ​was a robust political system that did not depend on any single individual.

No Sign of De-escalation

Nearly three weeks into the conflict, there is no sign of de-escalation. An unprecedented disruption to global energy supplies has raised the political stakes for US President Donald Trump. Diesel prices in the United States rose above $5 a gallon for the first time since the 2022 inflation surge that eroded support for his predecessor Joe Biden.

Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has rejected proposals conveyed to Tehran by intermediary countries to de-escalate the conflict, saying that the United ​States and Israel must first be “brought to their knees”, according to a senior Iranian official who asked not to be identified.

In a second major front in the war, Israel has stepped up strikes on Lebanon and a ground assault in ​the south in pursuit of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, which has fired across the border in solidarity with Tehran.

In central Beirut’s Bachoura district, Israel warned residents early on Wednesday to leave a building it said was used by Hezbollah, which it then completely flattened. ‌Eyewitness video, ⁠verified by Reuters, showed it crumbling into dust as it was struck at dawn.

Abu Khalil, who lives in the area, said he had helped people flee nearby homes after the Israeli warning. “It’s just an operation to hurt, to terrify people, to terrify children,” he told Reuters, insisting there were no military targets nearby.

No similar warnings were given for strikes that hit apartment buildings in two other central districts, killing at least 10 people, according to Lebanese authorities.

Smoke poured from the balcony of one building as residents swept debris from the street.

Inside Israel, an Iranian missile tore a crater into the pavement and set cars ablaze in a residential area of Holon, just south of Tel Aviv.

“There was an alarm, we went into ​the shelter, we heard a crazy boom,” resident Leah Palteal ​told Reuters.

Israel acknowledged on Wednesday that its troops in southern ⁠Lebanon had fired from a tank at a UN base on March 6, injuring three Ghanaian peacekeepers in what it said was a mistake.

Mounting Casualties Across Region

US-based Iran human rights group HRANA said on Monday that an estimated 3,000-plus people have been killed in Iran since the US-Israeli attacks began at the end of February. Authorities in Lebanon say 900 people ​have been killed there and 800,000 forced to flee their homes.

Iranian attacks have killed people in Iraq and across the Gulf states. Fourteen have been killed in Israel.

Israel ​and the United States say their ⁠war aim is to prevent Iran from being able to project force beyond its borders and destroy its nuclear and missile programmes.

They have also urged Iranians to rise up and overthrow their clerical rulers, just weeks after authorities killed thousands of anti-government protesters. However, there has been no sign of organised dissent inside Iran since the bombing began.

The Israel Defence Forces said it struck targets in Tehran on Tuesday that included the headquarters of the Revolutionary Guards' security unit tasked with suppressing unrest.

Iran told the UN ⁠nuclear watchdog that ​a projectile had also hit an area near the Bushehr nuclear power plant on Tuesday evening but caused no damage or injuries. IAEA chief Rafael ​Grossi reiterated his call for maximum restraint.

The U.S. military said on Tuesday it had targeted sites along Iran’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz with powerful “bunker-buster” bombs, saying Iranian anti-ship missiles there posed a threat to international shipping.

The strait, where a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies ​normally pass within a few miles of Iran’s coast, remains largely closed as Iran threatens to attack tankers linked to the US and Israel.

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HED: Iran strikes Tel Aviv with cluster warheads in retaliation for killing of security chief

DEK: Iran targeted Tel Aviv with missiles carrying cluster warheads in what it said was retaliation for Israel’s assassination of Larijani, Iranian state television reported earlier.

Emergency personnel inspect damage in a building following an Iranian projectile strike, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in central Israel, March 18, 2026.

REUTERS

DUBAI/TEL AVIV, March 18

A defiant Iran said Israel’s killing of security chief Ali Larijani and other key officials would not hinder its operations, with replacements swiftly appointed, as Israel launched a swathe of strikes against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Iran’s Foreign Minister ​Abbas Araqchi said the US. and Israel did not understand that the Islamic Republic was a robust political system and did not depend on any single individual.

The death of senior officials would not disrupt governance and the state ‌would continue to function, Araqchi said in an interview with Al Jazeera published on Iranian state media on Wednesday.

Iran targeted Tel Aviv with missiles carrying cluster warheads in what it said was retaliation for Israel's assassination of Larijani, Iranian state television reported earlier.

A statement by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps read on state TV said weapons used included Khorramshahr 4 and Qadr missiles, both of which carried multiple warheads.

Israeli authorities said the attacks killed two people in a neighbourhood close to densely populated Tel Aviv, where there are also key military facilities, bringing the death toll in Israel from the war to at least 14.

Israel has said that Iran has ​repeatedly used cluster warheads, which disperse into multiple smaller explosives mid-air and spread over a wide area, making them difficult to intercept.

The US-Israeli war on Iran shows no signs of de-escalation nearly three weeks in, with Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, rejecting ​proposals conveyed to Iran’s Foreign Ministry for “reducing tensions or ceasefire with the United States,” according to a senior Iranian official who asked not to be identified.

Khamenei, attending his first foreign-policy meeting since his appointment, said it was not “the right time for peace until the United States and Israel are brought to their knees, accept defeat, and pay compensation,” according to the official.

Iran had executed a man convicted of spying for Israel, the Iranian judiciary's media outlet Mizan said on Wednesday.

The man, ​identified as Kurosh Keyvani, had been convicted of providing Israel's spy agency Mossad with pictures and information about sensitive locations in Iran, it said.

The Israel Defence Forces said strikes on Tehran on Tuesday included the headquarters of the IRGC security unit tasked with suppressing unrest and a maintenance ​centre linked to Iran’s internal security forces.

A projectile also hit an area near the Bushehr nuclear power plant on Tuesday evening but caused no damage or injuries, Iran told the International Atomic Energy Agency. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi reiterated his call for maximum restraint during the conflict to avoid the risk of a nuclear accident.

Israel and the US have said preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapons programme was one of the goals of the attacks they launched more than two weeks ago, which killed the country’s supreme leader and many other top officials.

Israeli Strikes across Lebanon

Israeli airstrikes in Beirut killed at least six people on Wednesday, the ​Lebanese health ministry said, shaking the heart of the Lebanese capital as Israel intensified its offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.

Israeli airstrikes also pounded the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut, where Reuters footage showed explosions lighting up the night sky.

The latest strikes suck Lebanon deeper into the war ​in the Middle East after Hezbollah attacked Israel on March 2, saying it aimed to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader. Israel has responded with an offensive that has killed more than 900 people in Lebanon and forced more than 800,000 from their homes, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

US-based ‌Iran human rights group HRANA said on Monday that an estimated 3,000-plus people have been killed in Iran since the US-Israeli attacks began at the end of February. Iranian attacks have killed people in Iraq and across the Gulf states, as well as in Israel.

US Targets Iran Coastline near Strait of Hormuz

The United States military said on Tuesday it had targeted sites along Iran’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz with powerful “bunker buster” bombs because Iranian anti-ship missiles posed a risk to international shipping there.

The strait, a transit point for a fifth of the global oil trade, remains largely closed as Iran threatens to attack tankers linked to the US and Israel. Oil prices have soared.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly castigated allied countries in recent days for their cool response to his requests for military help to restore the passage of oil tankers through the waterway.

Most US allies ​in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation have told Trump they don’t want ​to get involved in the conflict, he said on Tuesday, ⁠describing their position as “a very foolish mistake.”

The US has given shifting rationales for joining Israel to attack Iran and struggled to explain the legal basis for starting a new war, underscored by the Tuesday resignation of the head of the US National Counterterrorism Centre, Joseph Kent. Kent wrote in his resignation letter to Trump that Iran “posed no imminent threat to our nation.”

Iran has responded to the Israeli-US attacks with wide-ranging strikes on ​its Gulf neighbours.

Gulf Arab states have faced more than 2,000 missile and drone attacks on US diplomatic missions and military bases, as well as oil infrastructure, ports, airports, ships and residential and commercial buildings, ​and most of them aimed at the United Arab Emirates.

Araqchi told Al Jazeera that Iranian strikes were not limited to US bases because the US deployed its forces outside military bases and into urban areas.

“Wherever there were American forces gathering, wherever there were facilities belonging to them, they were targeted. It is possible some of these places were near urban areas,” the top Iranian diplomat said.

Saudi Arabia will host a consultative meeting of foreign ministers from a number of Arab and Islamic countries in Riyadh on Wednesday evening to discuss ways to support regional security and stability, the kingdom’s foreign ministry said.

The International Energy Agency has said the war in the ​Middle East has caused the worst oil crisis since the 1970s.

With no signs of a de-escalation in fighting, oil prices are up around 45 percent since the start of ​the war on February 28, raising concerns of a renewed spike in global inflation. The World Food Programme said tens of millions of people will face acute hunger if the war continues through June.

Global airlines sounded the alarm on Tuesday over soaring jet fuel prices, warning of hundreds of millions of extra costs, higher fares and cuts to ​some routes. Global aviation has been thrown into turmoil, with flights cancelled, rescheduled or rerouted as most Middle East airspace remains closed amid fears of missile and drone attacks.