Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani had been killed in an Israeli strike.
There was no confirmation from Iran military.
Larijani was one of the targets of strikes carried out by the Israeli military last night across Iran, four Israeli officials told Reuters.
Iran has not yet commented on the report. If his death is confirmed, he would be the most senior Iranian official to be killed after the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who died on the first day of the war.
Larijani, a former nuclear negotiator and a close ally of Khamenei, was seen in Tehran on Friday taking part in Quds Day rallies.
Later that day, the US offered a reward of up to $10 million for information on senior Iranian military and intelligence officials, including Larijani, as part of a list of 10 figures linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Multiple Israeli media outlets also said the strikes targeted Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Basij Resistance Force and other senior Basij figures, with the outcome of the strikes still being assessed.
Meanwhile, US president Donald Trump was warned that attacking Iran could trigger retaliation against US Gulf allies despite his claims on Monday that Tehran’s reaction came as a surprise, according to sources familiar with US intelligence reports.
Pre-war intelligence assessments did not say that Iran’s response was “a guarantee, but it certainly was on the list of potential outcomes,” said one source, who like others, requested anonymity to discuss the issue.
Trump twice on Monday said that Iran’s retaliatory strikes against Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait were a surprise.
“They [Iran] weren’t supposed to go after all these other countries in the Middle East,” he said. “Nobody expected that. We were shocked.”
Trump’s claims came as there was no let-up in attacks by both sides early on Tuesday, meanwhile, with Iran launching missiles on Israel overnight, underscoring that Tehran still retains the capacity to carry out long-range strikes despite more than two weeks of pounding by US and Israeli weapons.
Rockets and at least five drones targeted the US embassy in Baghdad early on Tuesday, Iraqi security sources said, describing it as the most intense assault since the war began. Two US officials said no injuries were reported so far.
[ Trump’s appeal for help on the Strait of Hormuz goes unansweredOpens in new window ]
The Israeli military said it was targeting “Iranian regime infrastructure” with a new wave of strikes across Tehran, as well as Hizbullah sites in Beirut, a day after saying it had drawn up detailed plans for at least three more weeks of war with Iran.
Trump’s assertion on Monday followed other administration claims that have not been backed by US intelligence reporting, such as that Iran would soon have a missile capable of hitting the US homeland and that it would need two to four weeks to make a nuclear bomb and would then use it.
Those allegations and an imminent threat posed by Iran to the US and its forces in the region have been among varying reasons that Trump and some top aides have given to justify his decision to join Israel in launching their air war against Iran on February 28th.
Trump was also briefed in advance of the operation that Tehran would likely seek to close the economically vital Strait of Hormuz, according to two other sources familiar with the matter.
Over the past two weeks, Iranian drones and missiles have struck targets in the Gulf states that have included US military bases and an Emirates base hosting French troops, and civilian structures, including hotels, airports, and energy facilities.
Iran has also halted almost all shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 per cent of oil supplies move, causing global energy prices to spike.
A woman cleans up in her apartment after an airstrike in Tehran, Iran. Photograph: Arash Khamooshi/The New York Times
Democratic lawmakers emerged from administration briefings on the war last week saying they heard of no imminent threat that required the US and Israel to launch the war.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.
A US official said Trump was briefed before the war that striking Iran could trigger a broader regional conflict that would include Iranian retaliation against Gulf capitals, especially if Tehran saw those countries condoning or actively supporting the US attacks.
Trump repeated his claim later on Monday during a signing event in the Oval Office. He was asked if he was surprised that nobody had briefed him about that risk that Iran would strike back at the Gulf states.
“Nobody, nobody, no, no, no. The greatest experts, nobody thought they were going to hit,” replied Trump.
A second source familiar with the matter said that before the US-Israeli attacks, the US intelligence community assessed that Israel’s plan to launch strikes aimed at killing top Iranian leaders likely would result in retaliation against US military and diplomatic outposts.
The administration did not order departures of diplomatic staff from several regional embassies until after the air strikes began.
The community also warned that Iran “could” widen its retaliation to American allies in the region, the source said. – Reuters