March 17, 2026
RED FM News Desk
In a significant escalation of the ongoing Israel–Iran war, Israeli authorities announced that their forces killed Iran’s national security chief, Ali Larijani, and Gholamreza Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Basij paramilitary force, in overnight air strikes — a potential major blow to Tehran’s leadership. Iran has not yet confirmed the deaths of either figure.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the strikes targeted senior security officials responsible for planning attacks against Israel and its allies, while the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said operations hit multiple Iranian sites, including in the capital Tehran.
The conflict, now in its third week, has seen intense exchanges of missiles and drones across the Middle East and Gulf, with several Gulf states — Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait — reporting interceptions of incoming projectiles.
In Lebanon, the army reported that one of its soldiers was killed and four others wounded in an Israeli air strike on southern regions, even as Israeli air raids reportedly struck three neighbourhoods in Beirut overnight.
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