Israel kills head of Iranian militia as Gulf states face fresh attacks

Israel said it killed the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ all-volunteer Basij force, which has been used to suppress demonstrations in the Islamic Republic, as Gulf states came under renewed missile and drone fire.

Dubai, a major transit hub for international travel, briefly shut its airspace as the military said it was “responding to incoming missile and drone threats” around the city, and a man was killed by the debris of a missile intercepted over Abu Dhabi.

The Israeli military also said it has begun a “wide-scale wave of strikes” across Iran’s capital and was stepping up strikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

Israel reported two incoming salvos before dawn from Iran at Tel Aviv and elsewhere, and said Hezbollah targeted Israel’s north.

The Israeli military said a strike on Monday killed General Gholam Reza Soleimani but Iran did not immediately acknowledge the militia leader’s death.

“The Basij forces are part of the armed apparatus of the Iranian terror regime,” the Israeli military said in its statement.

“During internal protests in Iran, particularly in recent periods as demonstrations intensified, Basij forces under Soleimani’s command led the main repression operations, employing severe violence, widespread arrests and the use of force against civilian demonstrators.”

The US Treasury lists Soleimani as having been born in 1965. He has been sanctioned by the US, the European Union and other nations over his role in helping suppress dissent for years through the Basij.

Since the war began on February 28, Israel has launched specific attacks targeting Iran’s leadership, killing 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other military commanders.

Killing Soleimani could further strain the command and control of the Basij, which would be crucial in putting down any uprising against the theocracy. The Basij and other internal security forces have been a target of attack by both the Americans and the Israelis so far.

Iran has kept up the pressure on the energy infrastructure of its Gulf Arab neighbours, hitting an oil facility in Fujairah, located on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with the Gulf of Oman that has been repeatedly targeted. State-run WAM news reported that no one had been injured in the blast from the drone strike.

Iran’s attacks on Gulf nations and its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported, have given rise to increasing concerns of a global energy crisis.

Early on Tuesday, it hit a tanker anchored off the coast of Fujairah, one of about 20 vessels hit since Israel and the United States started the war with an attack on Iran on February 28.

With Washington under increasing pressure over rising oil prices, Brent crude, the international standard, remained over 100 dollars (£75) a barrel, up more than 40% since the war started.

US President Donald Trump said he had demanded that roughly a half-dozen countries send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open.

But his appeals brought no immediate commitments, with many saying they are hesitant to get involved in a war with no defined exit plan and sceptical that they could do more than the US Navy.

Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry reported intercepting a dozen drones on Tuesday morning over the country’s vast Eastern Province, home to oil infrastructure.

In Qatar, the sounds of explosions boomed over the capital early in the day as defences worked to intercept incoming fire. Qatar’s Defence Ministry said later that it had successfully thwarted a missile attack on the city, though a fire broke out in an industrial area from a downed projectile.

Attacks from Iran-linked proxy forces continued in Iraq, as the US Embassy in Baghdad was hit with shrapnel from drones that had been intercepted.

The embassy’s air defences were able to shoot down all four drones targeting the facility, according to two Iraqi security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.

A separate strike targeted a house in the heavily fortified Presidential Compound in Baghdad’s al-Jadriya area, the officials said.

It was not clear who carried out either attack, but Iran-allied militias have regularly been attacking American targets inside Iraq since the conflict began.