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Iran war updates: Iran says Israel to pay for killing of security officials

Ali Larijani confirmed dead: Iranian security chief killed in Israeli strike

Ali Larijani confirmed dead: Iranian security chief killed in Israeli strike

By Lyndal Rowlands, Zaid Sabah, Tim Hume, Sarah Haider, Usaid Siddiqui, Fiona Kelliher and Christine Maguire

Published On 18 Mar 202618 Mar 2026

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2h ago

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Our live coverage continues

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A fireball rises from the site of an Israeli air strike that targeted a building in Beirut’s Bashoura neighbourhood on March 18, 2026 [Fdel Itani/AFP]

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Here’s what happened today

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Here are some of today’s top events:

Iran has confirmed the Israeli killing of Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib in an overnight attack, marking the third assassination of a high-ranking Iranian official in two days.

Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new supreme leader, has said “criminal murderers” must pay for the officials’ killings.

Iran vowed a response after gas facilities associated with the offshore South Pars field, the largest gasfield in the world, came under attack.

The IRGC has launched attacks on a number of energy sites in Gulf countries, including Qatar’s Ras Laffan gas facility, where authorities reported significant damage, and at the United Arab Emirates’ Habshan ⁠gas facility, where operations were suspended.

Meanwhile, oil prices keep spiking: Brent crude futures, the benchmark for global prices, topped $108 a barrel, up 4.92 percent, while US crude rose to $98 a barrel, up 1.86 percent.

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2h ago

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Saudi FM says Iran’s strike akin to ‘blackmail’

Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud says that Iran’s attack aimed at Saudi energy facilities was “a blatant attempt at blackmail”.

The country said earlier that it intercepted and destroyed four ballistic missiles that were launched towards Riyadh just ahead of ‌a meeting of regional and Islamic foreign ministers in the Saudi capital.

“For me, it was clear that the attack today was timed with this meeting, in order to attempt to intimidate those present, to send out the message that Iran will not stop,” he said.

“All I can say is we were not intimidated. We were not in any way convinced that Iran can be a legitimate partner when it behaves this way,” he continued.

“What little trust there was has been completely shattered.”

Prima război de drone din lume între vecini înarmați nuclear a început în Asia de Sud.
India a acuzat joi Pakistanul că a efectuat o serie de atacuri cu drone și rachete pe teritoriul său și asupra a trei baze militare din Kashmir administrat de India. Islamabad a negat rapid acuzațiile.
Pakistan a pretins că a doborât 25 de drone indiene în ultimele câteva ore. Delhi nu a comentat public pe această temă.
Experții spun că atacurile de represalii au deschis un nou capitol periculos în conflictul de lungă durată dintre cele două țări, ambele părți folosind nu doar muniție, ci și arme fără pilot, cum ar fi dronele, pe frontiera lor volatilă.