Israel claims another top Iranian official killed while Iran's attacks kill 2 near Tel Aviv
The Hindu
Israel claims to have killed another top Iranian official as Iran's missile attacks near Tel Aviv leave two dead.
Israel said Wednesday (March 18, 2026) it killed another top Iranian official, the third in two days, while Iran lashed out with attacks on its Persian Gulf neighbours and Israel, using some of its latest missiles to evade air defences and killing two people near Tel Aviv as the war in the West Asia showed no signs of slowing.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib had been killed in an overnight strike and promised that “significant surprises are expected throughout this day on all fronts,” without elaborating.
Iran-Israel war updates on March 18, 2026
Iran did not immediately confirm Khatib's death. Israel killed top Iranian security official Ali Larijani and the head of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard's Basij force on Tuesday (March 17, 2026).
In Lebanon, Israel kept up its intense pressure with strikes it said targeted Iran-backed Hezbollah militants, hitting multiple apartment buildings in Beirut and killing at least a dozen people.
In Iran, the Bushehr nuclear power plant complex was hit by a projectile the night before but there were no injuries and the plant suffered no damage, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said after receiving a report from Tehran. The IAEA chief Rafael Grossi reiterated his call “for maximum restraint during the conflict to prevent risk of a nuclear accident.” Since the United States and Israel attacked Iran to start the war on February 28, Iran has been targeting the energy infrastructure of its Gulf Arab neighbours, as well as military bases, as part of a strategy to drive up oil prices and put pressure on Washington to back down.
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