Reuters: Iran targeted Tel Aviv with missiles carrying cluster warheads in what it said was retaliation for Israel’s assassination of Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani, Iranian state television reported on Wednesday (Mar 18).
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 attack on densely populated Tel Aviv overnight on Tuesday killed two people, bringing the death toll in Israel from the war to at least 14.
In Iran, a projectile hit an area near the Bushehr nuclear power plant on Tuesday evening, though it 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.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that the repercussions of the war will be felt globally and “will hit all”, “regardless of wealth, faith, or race”.
“A rising number of voices – (including) European and US officials – exclaim that the war on Iran is unjust. More members of the international community should follow suit,” he said on X.
The Iranian government on Tuesday confirmed the killing of Larijani, the most senior figure targeted since the US-Israeli war’s first day, when an Israeli strike killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, which Larijani led as secretary, said Larijani’s son and his deputy, Alireza Bayat, were also killed in an Israeli attack on Monday night.
The targeted killings took place as the US-Israeli war on Iran shows no signs of de-escalation.
Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has rejected 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.
The official did not clarify whether the younger Khamenei, who has not yet appeared in photos or on TV since being named last week to replace his slain father, had attended the meeting in person or remotely.
