Israel said Tuesday it had killed Iran's powerful national security chief, Ali Larijani, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling him the leader of "the gang of gangsters" that runs the Islamic republic.
If confirmed, Larijani's death would be a huge blow to Iran's ruling system more than two weeks into the war engulfing the Middle East, which has upended global markets and had consequences far beyond the region's confines.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Larijani was "eliminated last night", although this has not been confirmed by Iran.
"This morning we eliminated Ali Larijani, the boss of the Revolutionary Guards, which is the gang of gangsters that actually runs Iran," Netanyahu said in a televised statement.
He said the overthrow of Iran's authorities by the people "will not happen all at once, it will not happen easily. But if we persist in this -- we will give them a chance to take their fate into their own hands."
It comes less than three weeks after US-Israeli strikes on February 28 killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader since 1989, triggering a regional war with global repercussions.
It also comes weeks after a massive popular movement against the Islamic republic was crushed by authorities, with rights groups reporting thousands killed in the crackdown.
Larijani, 68, has been described as a key pillar in the ruling system, close to the late ayatollah and central to the government's nuclear policy and strategic diplomacy over decades.
After the war broke out, he became even more powerful. While the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has not been seen in public since he was appointed to replace his slain father, Larijani walked with crowds at a pro-government rally last week in Tehran.
The reported assassination comes as strikes shook countries across the Middle East on Tuesday, from Gulf nations to Iraq, Lebanon and Iran.
An AFP reporter had earlier Tuesday reported blasts in Tehran, after a night of heavy bombardment mixed with thunder and rain.
- Targeting leaders -
Shortly after Israel said it had killed him, Larijani's official social media profiles posted a handwritten note by him paying tribute to Iranian sailors killed when a US submarine sunk an Iranian frigate this month.
The note was not dated, nor did the post address the claim of his death.
Israel also said Tuesday it had killed Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij paramilitary force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, in a strike in Tehran.
And it said it had targeted Akram al-Ajouri, head of the military wing of the group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in a strike in Iran, though he was not confirmed dead.
Israel has since the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas pursued what analysts have described as a policy of decapitation, targeting the leaders of its enemies, including Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon, as well as top leaders in Gaza.
The whereabouts of Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is the subject of much speculation. US President Donald Trump said Monday that "we don't know... if he's dead or not".
- Trump appeals -
Across the region, hundreds of people have been killed and millions more displaced in the war.
In retaliation for the US-Israel attacks, Iran has targeted US interests, energy facilities and civilian infrastructure of its energy-rich neighbours, sending oil prices soaring.
Its threats and attacks on tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global crude oil passes, have also all but closed the key waterway.
Oil prices surged around three percent Tuesday after several countries pushed back on Trump's demand they help secure the strait by sending warships to escort tankers.
The US president has warned that it would be "very bad" for the future of the NATO military alliance if the allies refused to help.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said London was working with allies to craft a "viable" plan to reopen the strait, but ruled out a NATO mission.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Monday the war was "not a matter for NATO", while EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels indicated no appetite to join the conflict.
Trump has also appealed to nations including China, Japan and South Korea to help on the Strait of Hormuz.
Some countries have negotiated safe passage for some of their ships, including India, while Iraq said it was in contact with Iran over the issue.
- Asking for shelter -
The war has also drawn in Lebanon, after Tehran-backed Hezbollah militants struck Israel over Khamenei's killing.
Israel has stepped up strikes and deployed ground troops to its northern neighbour, including targeting Beirut's southern suburbs on Tuesday, and later, conducting an air strike near the city's airport.
The Lebanese military said on Tuesday that an Israeli strike on a car and a motorcycle in southern Lebanon killed one of its soldiers and wounded four others.
More than a million people have been displaced across Lebanon, while Israeli strikes have killed 886 people since March 2, Lebanon's health ministry says.
In the southern city of Sidon, far from the border, displaced people were sleeping in their cars parked along the seafront corniche, according to an AFP team on the ground.
"Lots of people are coming every day to ask for shelter but we don't have space anymore, we can't accept them," said Jihan Kaisi, the director of an NGO that runs a school-turned-shelter, where more than 1,100 people are crammed together.
