Israel says Iran security chief killed, Tehran strikes Gulf neighbors

IN BRIEF

• Israel said it had killed Iran's security chief Ali Larijani in airstrikes overnight. READ MORE BELOW

• The United Arab Emirates briefly closed its airspace in response to incoming missile and drone threats from Iran. READ MORE BELOW

• Oil loading at the UAE’s Fujairah port was at least partly halted on Tuesday after a third attack in four days caused a fire at the export terminal. READ MORE BELOW

• Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei rejected proposals for reducing tensions or for a ceasefire with the US.  READ MORE BELOW

• A UN inquiry has started investigating a fatal strike on a girls’ primary school in Iran. READ MORE BELOW

• The UN Human rights office said Israeli air strikes on residential buildings in Lebanon raise concerns under international law. READ MORE BELOW

Israel's Katz says Iran's security chief killed

Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday the Israeli military had killed Iran's security chief and the head of its Basij militia in airstrikes overnight, and Tehran kept up attacks against Gulf neighbours that have pushed up energy prices.

Katz said in a statement he had been informed by the military that Iran's security chief Ali Larijani had been killed.

Iranian state media published a handwritten note by Larijani commemorating Iranian sailors killed in a US attack whose funeral was expected on Tuesday, but there was no immediate comment by Tehran on Katz's remarks.

Larijani would be the most senior figure assassinated since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei was killed on the first day of Israeli-US airstrikes on February 28.

Katz said Gholamreza Soleimani, the commander of Iran's Basij forces, had also been killed.

The Basij militia is a part-time paramilitary force under the control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement that the Israeli leader had ordered "the elimination of senior officials of the Iranian regime."

The US-Israeli attack on Iran is in its third week, with at least 2,000 people killed and no end in sight. The Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed off and US allies have rebuffed US President Donald Trump's calls for them to help to reopen the vital waterway, through which about 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas flows.

There was no let-up in attacks by both sides early on Tuesday, with Iran launching missiles on Israel overnight, underscoring that Tehran retains the capacity to carry out long-range strikes despite more than two weeks of pounding by US and Israeli weapons.

The Israeli military said it was targeting "Iranian regime infrastructure" with a new wave of strikes across Tehran, as well as Hezbollah sites in Beirut, a day after saying it had drawn up detailed plans for at least three more weeks of war with Iran.

UAE airspace briefly closed due to missile, drone threat

The United Arab Emirates briefly closed its airspace on Tuesday in response to incoming missile and drone threats from Iran, a second straight day of aviation disruption after a drone caused a fire near Dubai airport on Monday.

Iran's retaliation to the US-Israeli attack has thrown global aviation into turmoil, with flights cancelled, rescheduled and rerouted, as most Middle East airspace remains shut over fears of missile and drone attacks.

Many Gulf-based airlines have been operating only a fraction of their pre-war flights, although Dubai-based Emirates has had fewer cancellations than some others. Monday's closure caused a sharp drop, according to data from Flightradar.com, which did not yet have data available for Tuesday.

The conflict has disrupted travel via the busy Gulf region, a key global hub between Europe and Asia, sent fuel charges and ticket prices surging, hit flows of goods such as critical medicines and thrown holiday plans into disarray.

The UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority said flights had returned to normal on Tuesday after earlier announcing the temporary airspace closure, state media agency WAM reported.

Attacks on UAE's Fujairah port and Shah gas field add to energy disruption 

Oil loading at the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah was at least partly halted on Tuesday after a third attack in four days caused a fire at the export terminal, while operations at the Shah gas field remained suspended after an earlier attack.

The cascading disruptions threaten to completely sever the OPEC producer's remaining crude export outlet from global markets, potentially deepening a crisis that has sent energy prices surging.

The UAE's other export hubs are located within the Gulf, which has been effectively cut off from the world by Iran's control of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil supply normally flows.

The third-biggest OPEC producer's daily crude oil output is down by more than half since the conflict started, with the effective closure of the strait forcing state oil giant ADNOC to implement widespread production shut-ins.

Iran's new supreme leader 'rejects proposals' for reducing tensions with US

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has rejected proposals for reducing tensions or for a ceasefire with the United States that were conveyed to Tehran by two intermediary countries, a senior Iranian official said on Tuesday.

Khamenei's stance for revenge against the US and Israel was "very tough and serious" in his first foreign policy session, the official said, without clarifying whether the leader attended the session in person.

The senior official, who asked not to be named, said the supreme leader had 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".

Three sources told the Reuters news agency on Saturday that Trump's administration has rebuffed efforts by Middle Eastern allies to start diplomatic negotiations aimed at ending the Iran war.

China to provide humanitarian aid to several countries 

China has decided to offer emergency humanitarian assistance to Iran, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq in the hope of easing the humanitarian plight faced by local people, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular press briefing on Tuesday.

He was responding to a media inquiry regarding China's consideration of providing humanitarian assistance to countries affected by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

"China has always been committed to the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind, upholding the spirit of internationalism and humanitarianism. The ongoing conflict has inflicted excruciating humanitarian disasters on people of Iran and other regional countries. China expresses its sympathy and extends condolences to the people of the relevant countries," said Lin.

"China has decided to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq, in the hope of easing the humanitarian plight faced by local people. China will continue to do its best to promote peace and ceasefire, facilitate the early restoration of regional peace and stability, and prevent the humanitarian crisis from spreading," he continued.

UN body investigating fatal strike on Iranian girls school 

A UN inquiry has started investigating a fatal strike on a primary school on the first day of US-Israeli attacks on Iran, one of its members told reporters on Tuesday.

The attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh School consisted of two missile strikes in quick succession that killed 168 children, mostly girls, Iranian officials said in Geneva on Monday.

US military investigators believe it is likely that US forces were responsible but have not yet reached a final conclusion or completed their investigation. The Pentagon has since elevated the probe.

"We're at an early stage of that investigation," Max du Plessis, a member of the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, told a Geneva press conference, saying that it had credible reports backing Iran's death toll.

"It's clear to us that whatever happens in respect of such an event, given the innocent lives that have been lost, there is a critical need for such an investigation to be done and for an independent outcome to follow," he said.

If US fault is confirmed, it would rank among the worst incidents of civilian deaths in decades of US military strikes in the Middle East.

UN raises legal concerns over Israeli strikes on Lebanon

Israeli air strikes on residential buildings in Lebanon raise concerns under international law, the UN human rights office said on Tuesday.

"Israeli air strikes have destroyed entire residential buildings in dense urban environments with multiple members of the same family, including women and children often killed together," UN human rights office spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan told reporters in Geneva.

"Such attacks raise concerns under international humanitarian law," he added.

The UN also said civilians are paying a heavy price as the war in Lebanon continues to expand, driving death, injuries and displacement.

"Displacement is increasing incredibly quickly," said UN Humanitarian Coordinator Imran Riza. "Right now, hundreds of thousands of people left their homes – many leaving with very little, just the clothes they were wearing."

Lebanon was sucked into the war in the Middle East on March 2 when Hezbollah opened fire at Israel, saying it aimed to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader. Israel has responded with an offensive ​that has killed more ​than 800 people ⁠in Lebanon and forced more than 800,000 from their homes.

Almost a fifth of people living in Lebanon are now registered as displaced, according to Lebanese government figures, with displacement set to increase, the UN said.