Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz claimed Tuesday that Iran’s top security official Ali Larijani was killed in an airstrike.
In a statement released by his office, Katz alleged that Larijani and the Basij commander Gholamreza Soleimani were “eliminated” in overnight strikes. Israeli media earlier reported that Larijani, the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, was the target of overnight strikes carried out by Israel. There was no immediate response from the Iranian authorities to the claim.
Larijani’s assassination is likely to further inflame the situation after a tanker anchored near a port in the United Arab Emirates was hit by a projectile early Tuesday, the first strike on a ship in and around the Strait of Hormuz in five days, as countries in Europe and beyond rebuffed President Trump’s call for help unblocking the vital oil route.
The tanker sustained minor damage after it was hit near the port of Fujairah, at the southern end of the strait, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center said. The Emirati authorities later said that a drone had caused a fire at an oil industry hub on the city’s coast. They also reported a separate wave of attacks from Iran and said a person had been killed by falling debris from a missile interception
