Iran targeted Tel Aviv with missiles carrying cluster warheads in what it said was retaliation for Israel\u2019s assassination of Iran\u2019s security chief Ali Larijani, Iranian state television reported on Wednesday. Israel has said that Iran has repeatedly used cluster warheads, which disperse into \u200bmultiple 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 \u200cIsrael from the war to at least 14. In Iran, a projectile hit an area near the Bushehr nuclear power plant on Tuesday evening, however 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\u2019s supreme leader and \u200bmany other top officials. The Iranian government on Tuesday confirmed the killing of Larijani, the most senior figure targeted since the US-Israeli war\u2019s first day, when an Israeli strike killed Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran\u2019s \u200bSupreme National Security Council, which Larijani led as secretary, said Larijani\u2019s son and his deputy, Alireza Bayat, were also killed in an Israeli attack on Monday night. The targeted killings \u2060took place as the US.Israeli war, on Iran shows no signs of de-escalation. Iran\u2019s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has rejected proposals conveyed to Iran\u2019s Foreign Ministry for \u201creducing tensions or ceasefire with the United States,\u201d according to a senior Iranian official \u200bwho asked not to be identified. Khamenei, attending his first foreign-policy meeting since his appointment, said it was not \u201cthe right time for peace until the United States and Israel are brought to their knees, accept defeat, and pay compensation,\u201d according to \u200bthe 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. TRUMP SAYS HELP FROM ALLIES TO SECURE STRAIT NOT NEEDED US-based Iran human rights group HRANA said on Monday that an estimated 3,000-plus people have been killed in Iran since the US-Israeli attacks began at the end of February. Iranian attacks have killed people in Iraq and across the Gulf states, as well as \u200bIsrael. More than 900 people have died since Israel began attacks on Lebanon on March 2, the Lebanese Health Ministry said on Tuesday. The Strait of Hormuz, a transit point for a fifth of the global oil trade, remains largely \u200bclosed as Iran threatens to attack tankers linked to the US and Israel. Oil prices have soared U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly castigated allied countries in recent days for their cool response to his requests for military help to restore the passage of \u200coil tankers \u2060through the strait. Most U.S. allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have told Trump they don\u2019t want to get involved in the conflict, he said on Tuesday, describing their position as \u201ca very foolish mistake.\u201d \u201cBecause of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer \u2018need,\u2019 or desire, the NATO Countries\u2019 assistance \u2014 WE NEVER DID!\u201d Trump wrote on social media, also singling out Japan, Australia and South Korea. European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in an interview that nobody was ready to risk the lives of their people in protecting the strait. \u201cWe have to find diplomatic ways to keep this open so that we don\u2019t have a food crisis, fertilizers crisis, energy crisis as well,\u201d Kallas said. The U.S. has given \u200bshifting rationales for joining Israel to attack Iran and \u200bstruggled to explain the legal basis for starting a \u2060new war, underscored by the Tuesday resignation of the head of the US National Counterterrorism Center, Joseph Kent. Kent wrote in his resignation letter to Trump that Iran \u201cposed no imminent threat to our nation.\u201d US TARGETS IRAN COASTLINE Iran has responded to the Israeli-US attacks with wide-ranging strikes on its Gulf neighbours, some of which host US bases. Gulf Arab states have faced more \u200bthan 2,000 missile and drone attacks on US diplomatic missions and military bases as well as oil infrastructure, ports, airports, ships and residential and commercial buildings, and most \u200bof them aimed at the \u2060United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia will host a consultative meeting of foreign ministers from a number of Arab and Islamic countries in Riyadh on Wednesday evening to discuss ways to support regional security and stability, the kingdom\u2019s foreign ministry said. The United States military said on Tuesday it had targeted sites along Iran\u2019s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz because Iranian anti-ship missiles posed a risk to international shipping there. Oil prices rose about 3% on Tuesday as Iran renewed its strikes on oil facilities in the United \u2060Arab Emirates, and \u200bare up around 45% since the start of the war on February 28, raising concerns of a renewed spike in global inflation. The World \u200bFood Programme said tens of millions of people will face acute hunger if the war continues through June. Global airlines sounded the alarm on Tuesday over soaring jet fuel prices, warning of hundreds of millions of extra costs, higher fares and cuts to some routes. Global aviation has been \u200bthrown into turmoil, with flights cancelled, rescheduled or rerouted as most Middle East airspace remains closed amid fears of missile and drone attacks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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