Iran war updates: Tehran confirms Larijani, Soleimani killed

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Here are some of today’s top events:

• Two people have been killed in Israel after suffering severe shrapnel wounds following an attack, the national ambulance service says.
• Iranian state media have confirmed the killings of security chief Ali Larijani and Basij force commander Gholamreza Soleimani. Israel said it carried out both assassinations.
• Officials and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said the killings would harden Iran’s resolve against the US and Israel.
• The war continued to spill over into Iraq, with rocket and drone attacks targeting the US embassy in Baghdad.
• The IRGC completed waves of strikes on Israel, Kuwait and the UAE, while Israel said it pummelled Tehran and southern Lebanon, including several neighbourhoods in Beirut.
• The director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, resigned over the war on Iran, saying Tehran posed “no imminent threat”.
• US President Donald Trump railed against NATO countries for declining to send their navies to the Strait of Hormuz and claimed Kent’s resignation was a “good thing”.

Qatari Minister for International Cooperation Maryam Al-Misned has spoken with Lebanese Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed about the humanitarian situation in Lebanon amid Israeli attacks.

The two ministers discussed the “large number of Lebanese citizens” displaced due to the current conditions, as well as a “number of issues of mutual interest”.

Lebanese authorities said more than 1 million people have registered as displaced since March 2, nearly one-fifth of the country’s population.

Minister of State for International Cooperation @MANAlMisned Holds Phone Call with Lebanon's Social Affairs Minister

Doha, March 18, 2026

HE Minister of State for International Cooperation Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser Al Misnad held a phone call Tuesday with HE Minister of Social… pic.twitter.com/Xr3W7EO1UZ

— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) March 17, 2026

The deputy head of security for Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Alireza Bayat, was killed alongside Ali Larijani, Iranian state media reports.

We reported earlier that Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said Larijani, his son and an assistant were killed in the overnight Israeli attack.

Iran’s Tasnim news agency named Alireza Bayat, calling him a “skilled but unknown manager”.

Before working for the security council, Bayat was the head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organisation, and previously served in the country’s security institutions, according to Tasnim.

In the last half an hour, a significant strike has come from Iran towards central Israel.

There were videos that showed a cluster munition detonating in the sky and spreading fiery fragments over a wide area. Some of that damage has been reported in the Tel Aviv area.

There’s also damage reported in Jerusalem, Ramat Gan, and Bnei Brak, all sites in and around central Israel.

Two people are believed to have been killed in this strike – a man and a woman in their 70s, who, initial reports suggest, were not in a shelter.

Five people were likely injured in the Sharon area.

Narendra Modi has spoken on the phone with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan about attacks on the Gulf nation, the Indian prime minister said in a post on X.

Modi “reiterated India’s strong condemnation of all attacks targeting the United Arab Emirates, which resulted in the loss of innocent lives and damage to civilian infrastructure”.

The two leaders also “agreed on the importance of ensuring freedom and safety of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz”, according to Modi.

“We will continue to work together to restore peace, security, and stability in the region at the earliest possible time,” the Indian leader added.

Earlier, Modi spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, with the Indian leader saying his “top priority” was the “safety and security of Indian nationals” as well as the “unhindered transit of goods and energy”.

US President Donald Trump says the US-Israel war on Iran is “been amazing militarily” as he applauded the killing of Iran’s leaders.

Speaking alongside Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin at the Shamrock Bowl Presentation at the White House, Trump described the war as “a little bit of a journey”.

“We did a little excursion, and we’re way ahead of schedule,” the president said. “We knocked out their navy, their air force, their anti-aircraft equipment and their leaders.”

“It’s been amazing militarily, but it’s something that had to be done … we don’t do it with glee,” he added.

Hezbollah has announced more than a dozen attacks on Israel and its personnel in the last few hours.

Here are just a few of the most recent attacks, according to statements released by the group via its Telegram channel:

• Hezbollah attacked what it claims was a special naval unit of the Israeli army at the Atlit base, south of the city of Haifa.
• The group said its fighters also targeted the base itself with a “barrage of specialised missiles”.
• It said it targeted Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon and Israel.

Iraq’s Minister of Oil says the pumping of oil from the Turkish port of Ceyhan will resume on Wednesday at 10am local time (07:00 GMT).

The minister made the announcement to the Council of Representatives, the Iraqi News Agency reported.

Earlier this week, the ministry told Al Jazeera that maintenance work was ongoing to rehabilitate the oil pipeline between Iraq’s Kirkuk and Ceyhan.

Israel is calling this one of the most significant strikes of the war.

So far, two of the most powerful figures running Iran are dead, and, of course, this comes after the killing of Supreme Leader Khamenei on day one of the conflict – February 28.

(Israeli) Defence Minister Israel Katz is saying that this is part of an ongoing campaign to essentially terminate the (Iranian) leadership and destabilise the regime.

Netanyahu has put out a video in which he called Larijani the boss of a gang of gangsters running Iran.

The Israeli military has said that the killing of (Gholamreza) Soleimani was, in part, because of his role in crushing protesters back in January in Iran, and that, therefore, this was part of the ongoing campaign to destabilise the Iranian leadership.

And, as Netanyahu has put it as well, to give Iranians a chance to rise up and overthrow the regime.

This is Israel’s goal of ultimate regime change in Iran.

The United Arab Emirates central bank says it has approved a package aimed at reinforcing the stability of the country’s banking sector.

The central bank said the overall stock of liquidity held by UAE banks at the regulator, combined with their net eligible assets for central bank operations, had reached close to $250bn.

Under the package, banks will gain enhanced access to reserve balances of up to 30 percent of the cash reserve requirement and access to term liquidity facilities in both UAE dirhams and US dollars, it added.