Iran vows to retaliate as Israel targets leadership and attacks on energy facilities intensify

The European Union has called on Israel to cease its military campaign in Lebanon, after the latest Israeli strikes on Beirut.

« The EU is deeply concerned about the ongoing Israeli offensive in Lebanon which already has devastating humanitarian consequences and risks triggering a prolonged conflict, » a spokesperson said. « Israel should cease its operations in Lebanon. »

The EU also condemned Iran’s execution of a Swedish citizen in what it called a « brutal act ».

« The execution of a Swedish citizen by the Iranian regime is a brutal act of senseless violence and we condemn it, » the bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said in a statement.

The Israeli military said it would not stop its « series of eliminations » of senior Iranian officials, after the country announced it had killed Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib.

Khatib’s killing came soon after Israel killed Iran’s powerful security chief Ali Larijani, and another powerful figure, Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij paramilitary force.

« Over the past 24 hours, we have continued to track down and eliminate senior officials of the regime, murderers responsible for numerous terrorist operations, » military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said in a televised briefing. « We will continue to hunt down all of the regime’s senior officials. The series of eliminations will not stop. »

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian confirmed that Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib had been killed, blasting a « cowardly assassination ».

« The cowardly assassination of my dear colleagues Esmail Khatib, Ali Larijani and Aziz Nasirzadeh, along with some of their family members and accompanying team, has left us in mourning, » he said, referring to Iran’s recently killed security chief and defence minister.

Iran’s president warned of the risk of « uncontrollable consequences » of attacks on energy infrastructure, after facilities in the giant Iranian South Pars gas field were targeted in the US-Israeli war against the Islamic republic.

« This will complicate the situation and could have uncontrollable consequences, the scope of which could engulf the entire world, » Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on X, adding that such attacks « will yield nothing » for Iran’s foes the US and Israel.

Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf added in a separate post on X that after the attacks on energy facilities « an eye-for-an-eye sum is in effect, and a new level of confrontation has begun ».

Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a written message that the killers of security chief Ali Larijani, who died in an Israeli strike, « will have to pay for it ».

« Without a doubt, the assassination of such a figure attests to his importance and to the hatred that the enemies of Islam harbour toward him, » Mojtaba Khamenei said, in a message published on his official Telegram channel on the day of Larijani’s funeral in Tehran.

« Every drop of spilled blood comes at a price, and the criminal murderers of these martyrs will soon have to pay it, » added Mojtaba Khamenei, who has yet to appear in public after taking office following the killing of his father, ex-supreme leader Ali Khamenei at the start of the war.

Israel’s defence minister said the military had destroyed two bridges spanning the Litani River in southern Lebanon, alleging they were being used by Hezbollah.

« The IDF today struck and destroyed two additional bridges over the Litani River that were used for smuggling weapons and for Hezbollah operatives moving south, » Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.

« This is a direct action against Hezbollah’s use of Lebanon’s state infrastructure to advance terrorist activity and also a clear message to the Lebanese government: the State of Israel will not allow such a reality. »

Earlier on Wednesday, the military had warned residents in the vicinity to evacuate, saying it planned to strike the crossings.

The sky lit up over the Riyadh late on Wednesday and an interceptor missile flew overhead, eyewitnesses said.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The UAE condemned the targeting of Iranian facilities in a gas field shared with Qatar on Wednesday, calling the attack attributed by Iran to the US and Israel a « dangerous escalation » in a rare rebuke.

« The United Arab Emirates affirmed that targeting energy facilities linked to the South Pars gas field in the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is an extension of the North Field in the sisterly State of Qatar, constitutes a dangerous escalation, » the foreign ministry said in a statement.

« Targeting energy infrastructure poses a direct threat to global energy security…It also entails serious environmental repercussions and exposes civilians, maritime security, and vital civilian and industrial facilities to direct risks. »

The Israeli military said on Wednesday that « debris » had hit Ben Gurion Airport following Iranian missile fire, without specifying when the incident had occurred.

Israeli media reported that private planes parked at the international airport near Tel Aviv had sustained damage.

The army lifted the censorship order regarding the incident on Wednesday but did not authorise the disclosure of the date.

Israel’s military said on Wednesday it had struck gas stations in south Lebanon belonging to a company owned by the Iranian-backed armed group Hezbollah.

« Overnight, the IDF struck Al-Amana Fuel Company gas stations in southern Lebanon », the military said.

The statement said that the Al-Amana fuel company is controlled by Hezbollah « and constitutes fundamental economic infrastructure that supports Hezbollah’s military capabilities. »

It said Hezbollah receives « millions of dollars of profits » from the company via another Hezbollah-owned association to fund its military activities.

Since the war with Iran broke out, Israel has also bombed Al-Qard al-Hassan, a financial firm with links to Hezbollah.

Lebanon has once again come under Israeli fire since Hezbollah launched attacks against its southern neighbour on 2 March after Israel killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Since the start of the war, at least one million Lebanese have fled their homes and Israel’s defence minister has warned that they should not return home until northern Israel is secure.

Iran’s government has suffered heavy blows in the US-Israeli war but remains « intact » and will rebuild its military if it survives, the US intelligence chief said on Wednesday.

The US intelligence community « assesses the regime in Iran to be intact but largely degraded due to attacks on its leadership and military capabilities, » Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence, told a Senate hearing.

NATO chief Mark Rutte said on Wednesday that allies of the military alliance were in discussions on the « best way » to open the Strait of Hormuz, through which a large chunk of the world’s oil supply normally passes.

« I have been in contact with many allies. We all agree, of course, that strait has to open up again. And what I know is that allies are working together, discussing how to do that, what is the best way to do it, » Rutte said at a news conference during a visit to a NATO exercise in northern Norway.

US President Donald Trump has urged other global powers to send warships to escort convoys of tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.

Trump’s chief spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, said Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib was a “known terrorist.”

“Of course, this man is no longer with us here on earth,” she said during a morning appearance on Fox News Channel. “And that’s a good thing for the United States. And it’s a good thing for the American people who have long been threatened by this rogue terrorist regime.”

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz announced Wednesday that its military had killed Khatib.

US companies will be allowed to do business with Venezuela’s state-owned oil and gas company after the Treasury Department eased sanctions with some limitations as the Trump administration looks for ways to boost world oil supplies during the Iran war.

The Treasury issued a broad authorisation allowing Petróleos de Venezuela S.A (PDVSA) to directly sell Venezuelan oil to US companies and on global markets, a massive shift after Washington had largely blocked dealings with Venezuela’s government and its oil sector for years.

The move highlights the increased pressure the Republican administration is under to ease soaring oil prices as the United States, along with Israel, wages a war with Iran without a foreseeable end date.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz told German lawmakers on Wednesday “we’re speaking at all levels with Washington” and “seeking trans-Atlantic agreement.”

He stressed that Germany shares many US aims “but we can’t and won’t shy away from telling our partners honestly where we see things differently and where we have different interests.”

Merz said he still has questions about the war in Iran and there is still “no convincing concept for how this operation could succeed.”

He noted that Washington “didn’t consult us and said European help wasn’t necessary…we would have advised against pursuing this road the way it has been pursued at present.”

Germany is among the countries that say they won’t contribute to a military mission in the Strait of Hormuz as long as the war continues.

“Targeting fuel, energy and gas infrastructure in the aggressor country is our legitimate right and we will respond with force as soon as possible,” Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said in a statement.

Facilities associated with the massive offshore South Pars natural gas field, jointly run by Iran and Qatar, came under attack on Wednesday, Iranian state media reported.

When Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz closed after US-Israeli air strikes and began attacking commercial ships attempting to pass through, the effects were felt almost immediately. Not just in the Gulf, but in European homes and businesses thousands of kilometres away.

The blockade severely disrupted one of the world’s most critical shipping routes for oil, gas and chemicals, triggering a sharp energy price shock across Europe. 

Denis Loctier looks at the issues and the alternatives.

The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday that damage to Iran’s Bushehr nuclear site appears not to be “very significant” and that a strike on facility may have hit a small building containing a laboratory.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi told reporters in Washington that the IAEA had received information about the incident from Iran and from Russia that Bushehr was hit by a drone. He said it did not hit the actual power plant but landed on the premises.

“We are looking at images but it doesn’t seem to be very significant,” he said. “At the same time, any attack on any nuclear facility should always be avoided.”

The spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that Israel targeting facilities linked to Iran’s South Pars offshore gas field is a “dangerous and irresponsible step.”

“Targeting energy infrastructure constitutes a threat to global energy security, as well as to the peoples of the region & its environment,” Majed Al Ansari.

“We reiterate, as we have repeatedly emphasized, the necessity of avoiding the targeting of vital facilities.”

Facilities associated with the massive offshore South Pars natural gas field, jointly run by Iran and Qatar, came under attack on Wednesday, Iranian state media reported.

It wasn’t clear if Israel or the United States had carried out the attack, however the US has been operating primarily in southern Iran.

Germany and France on Wednesday called for de-escalation of the war with Germany’s top diplomat warning of a « crisis of the gravest order » if global supply chains continue to be disrupted.

« We must try to find a point where the military objectives (the United States and Israel) have set are achieved, and where we can then move towards de-escalation and a cessation of hostilities, » German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said.

Otherwise, the region and the whole world could be plunged into « a crisis of the gravest order, » Wadephul said.

« The supply of fertiliser from this region alone is so essential that a prolonged disruption would threaten a food crisis across large parts of Africa, » he added, also highlighting the « refugee flows » that a prolonged war could cause.

Speaking alongside Wadephul in Berlin, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot also called for « the swiftest possible de-escalation and a cessation of hostilities. »

« Military escalation in the region carries with it major risks for our interests, for the safety of our nationals on the ground, but also for our partners and for the global economy, » Barrot said.

Wadephul said a change of government in Iran was « desirable » given « the brutality and ruthlessness of this regime » but warned that « this must develop from within the country. »

« This will not happen in the short term during wartime, » he predicted, warning that « such military interventions have not led to an orderly regime change in either Iraq or Libya. »

Barrot said Iran « must be prepared to make major concessions and undergo a radical change of stance, thereby paving the way for a political solution to emerge. »

Any negotiated solution must « enable Iran to coexist peacefully with its regional neighbours and allow the Iranian people to shape their future freely, » he said.

Iran’s state television published a threat on Wednesday, saying the Islamic Republic would be attacking oil and gas infrastructure in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The threat resembled other attack warnings put out by Iran during the war, copying the style used by the Israeli military.

Iran specifically threatened Saudi Arabia’s Samref Refinery and its Jubail Petrochemical Complex. It also threatened the UAE’s Al Hasan Gas Field and the petrochemical plants and a refinery in the Qatar.

It comes after Iran said its South Pars gas field and associated infrastructure came under attack earlier on Wednesday.

Sweden’s foreign minister said on Wednesday that Iran had executed a Swedish citizen, after Iranian authorities announced the first execution of a man convicted of spying since the start of its war against Israel and the United States.

« It is with dismay that I have received information that a Swedish citizen was executed in Iran earlier today, » Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said in a statement.

Since the man’s arrest during in June 2025, Sweden has « repeatedly raised the case at various levels with Iranian representatives, » she added.

« In these contacts, we have emphasised Sweden’s expectation that our citizen will receive a fair trial and not be sentenced to death, » Stenergard said.

« It is obvious to us that the legal process which led to the execution of the Swedish citizen was not conducted in accordance with the rule of law, » she added.

She did not identify the citizen who was executed.

Earlier, Iran’s judiciary website, Mizan Online, said a man named Kouroush Keyvani was executed for spying for Israel and that he was arrested during Iran’s 12-day conflict with Israel in June last year.

It listed details of his meetings with agents from Israel’s Mossad spy agency and said he received training in « six European countries and in Tel Aviv. »

The United Arab Emirates has tallied 13 ballistic missiles and 27 drones fired at the country on Wednesday. The Gulf News paper reports that all were intercepted and shot down by air defence systems.

The head of the UN’s maritime body urged « practical measures » to protect trade ships threatened by the Middle East war on Wednesday, as he opened an emergency meeting amid fears for thousands of stranded ships and seafarers.

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The Iranian women’s national football team crossed the Turkish border to travel to their home country on Wednesday, a journalist with the AFP news agency said, including several players who withdrew an asylum bid in Australia.

Seven members of the delegation had sought sanctuary in Australia last week after being branded « traitors » in Iran for refusing to sing the national anthem before their opening game at the Women’s Asian Cup. But five later changed their minds, including captain Zahra Ghanbari.

The team arrived in Istanbul on Tuesday evening from Oman, then flew to the eastern city of Iğdır and travelled home overland.

Facilities associated with Iran’s massive offshore South Pars natural gas field came under attack on Wednesday, state media reported.

Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency reported on the attack targeting facilities at Asaluyeh in Iran’s southern Bushehr province.

Iran shares the offshore field in the Persian Gulf with Qatar, which it has repeatedly attacked during the war along with other Gulf nations.

It wasn’t clear if Israel or the United States had carried out the attack, however the US has been operating primarily in southern Iran.

The Israeli military said it planned to strike bridges and crossings over the Litani River in southern Lebanon on Wednesday to disrupt what it said were Hezbollah arms‑smuggling routes.

« To prevent the transfer of reinforcements and weapons, the IDF intends to attack crossings on the Litani River starting from this afternoon, » the military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.

« For your safety, you must continue moving to the area north of the Zahrani River and refrain from any movement southward, which may endanger your lives. »

Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that the Israeli military killed Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib.

Khatib’s killing follows Israel eliminating top Iranian security official Ali Larijani and the head of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force.

Katz said “significant surprises are expected throughout this day on all the fronts.”

Katz also said that the military has been authorised to target any senior Iranian official without requiring further approval.

« Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have authorised the IDF to eliminate any senior Iranian official for whom the intelligence and operational circle has been closed, without the need for additional approval, » Katz said in a statement.

« We will continue to thwart and hunt them all down. »

Iraq said on Wednesday it has resumed oil exports from fields in the city of Kirkuk through a pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

The development came after the Iraqi government reached a deal with the autonomous Kurdish administration in the north of the country, the Iraqi oil ministry said.

The move avoids the Persian Gulf altogether. The ministry said it will initially export 250,000 barrels per day of crude oil.

Manama said on Wednesday Iran fired a missile and a drone at the island kingdom that hosts the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.

Hezbollah-affiliated Al Manar TV said the director of its political programmes was killed alongside his wife in an Israeli strike on central Beirut on Wednesday.

In a statement, the outlet said the « director of political programmes at the channel, Mohammad Sherri and his wife » were killed « in the Zionist raid on the Zuqaq al-Blat area in Beirut ».

His children and grandchildren were wounded and hospitalised following the strike, the statement added.

The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier is expected to temporarily return to port following a fire on board, US officials said.

The carrier, the world’s largest, is currently in the Red Sea and is deployed in operations against Iran.

The officials said it will dock at Souda Bay on the Greek island of Crete, but the officials didn’t say how long it was expected to stay there.

The vessel has been deployed for nine months, including taking part in operations against Venezuela prior to arriving in the Middle East. 

Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom says Russian-built nuclear power plant in Iran had come under attack, but there was no damage or injuries.

Rosatom chief Alexei Likhachev said on Wednesday that the strike a day earlier was near the meteorology service building close to the nuclear reactor. He said there was no detected increase in radiation levels.

It was the first attack on the plant in Bushehr, southern Iran, since the start of the war. Likhachev condemned the strike as a “flagrant disregard for key rules and principles of international security.”

He said that Rosatom has evacuated 250 workers and family members from Iran, but another 480 remain in Bushehr, some of whom will be evacuated.

Turkey’s defence ministry said on Wednesday that NATO was deploying a new Patriot missile battery at its Incirlik air base near Adana, just days after a third ballistic missile from Iran was shot down.

« Another Patriot system… is being deployed… in addition to the existing Spanish Patriot system stationed there, » a ministry official told reporters at the Turkish air base.

The ministry did not detail which country’s troops would be operating the new PAC-3 system.

Last Friday, Ankara confirmed a third ballistic missile from Iran was shot down in Turkish airspace by NATO forces, the third such incident since the war in Iran erupted on 28 February.

After the second interception, NATO deployed Patriot defences in the central Malatya region, where the Kurecik air base is located, which houses a NATO early-warning radar system manned by US troops that can detect Iranian missile launches.

The Patriot is a mobile air-defence system designed to intercept tactical ballistic missiles, low-flying cruise missiles and aircraft.

The PAC-2 version has an interception range of up to 70 kilometres against aircraft and cruise missiles, while the PAC-3 has a range of 20 to 35 kilometres against ballistic missiles, according to US army data.

Israeli strikes on central Beirut on Wednesday morning killed at least 12 people, according to the Lebanese health ministry who updated tolls in a statement.

The ministry said that the strikes on the Basta and Zuqaq al-Blat neighbourhoods in central Beirut killed at least 12 people and wounded 41.

Iran’s judiciary reported on Wednesday that an enemy “attack” hit southern Iran, killing and wounding civilians and judicial staff.

The judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported the attack at a judiciary site in Larestan County in Iran’s Fars province.

The site “was targeted in an attack by the enemy,” said Mizan. “A number of staff members and civilians were ‘martyred’ and injured, the exact number is still unknown.”

Mizan described the site as a judiciary complex in Larestan County hit during working hours. It later detailed the attacks were airstrikes and blamed the United States and Israel.

At least four explosions were heard on Wednesday in the city of Erbil in the autonomous Kurdistan region, journalists there reported.

It was not immediately clear what the target was. From a suburb of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region, interceptions of projectiles were seen over the city, home to a major US consulate complex, while its airport houses US-led coalition troops.

Iraq was drawn into the war in Iran after having long been a proxy battleground between the United States and Iran.

Strikes have targeted Iran-backed groups, which in turn have claimed daily attacks on US interests in Iraq and across the region.

Since the start of the war, the coalition’s air defences have repeatedly downed drones over Erbil.

In the past few days daily explosions have been heard over the city, although mostly in the evening.

On Tuesday night, the powerful Iran-backed armed group Kataib Hezbollah condemned the US presence in Iraq and demanded that every « foreign soldier » leave the country.

The group, a US-designated terrorist organisation, is part of an umbrella movement known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which has been claiming daily attacks on US interests in Iraq and the region, and has always demanded the withdrawal of their troops.

Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry says its forces shot down a second drone flying over the capital, Riyadh, on Wednesday.

The drone was approaching the city’s diplomatic quarter, where the US embassy and other foreign missions are located.

Earlier in the morning on Wednesday, the ministry reported it destroyed a drone that was headed for the diplomatic quarter.

Israeli strikes overnight into Wednesday against central Beirut have destroyed the illusion of safe areas in the capital, residents and first responders said.

In the renewed fighting with the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, Israel has concentrated most strikes where the group has a strong presence in southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs.

But several attacks early on Wednesday hit city centre neighbourhoods, some without warning.

“Today, Beirut is no different from the southern suburbs,” said Neshat Berri, fire brigade Captain, in the Bachoura neighbourhood, where emergency crews dug through rubble.

Near a building damaged by a strike in the Basta neighbourhood, resident Hassan Jaber complained there was “no safety.”

“We will continue to be exposed to this. Beirut is no different (from other areas),” he said. “May God protect us.”

Israeli airstrikes killed at least two people in Lebanon’s western Bekaa valley on Wednesday, Lebanon’s health ministry said.

The strikes in the town of Sohmor also wounded at least six others, the ministry added.

Saudi Arabia is set to host on Wednesday a consultative meeting of foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries as the Iran war shows no sign of abating.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry said the meeting in the capital Riyadh will include discussion of means to “support regional security and stability.”

Gulf Arab states have repeatedly come under fire from Iran, raising anger at Tehran, as well as the United States and Israel for launching the war.

Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry says its forces shot down a drone on Wednesday morning as it approached the diplomatic quarter in the capital Riyadh, which houses the US embassy and other foreign missions.

L’Observatoire de l’Europe journalists in Dubai and Doha report intensive waves of attacks throughout the night and into the early hours of the morning as Iran continues to target its Gulf neighbours.

Massive interception explosions, low-flying fighter jets roaring over the city and air raid alerts urging residents to seek shelter kept Dubai awake all night, L’Observatoire de l’Europe journalists in the UAE reported.

Dubai’s skyline was lit by missile interceptors in action and falling debris amid reports that Tehran’s attacks were targeting Dubai International Airport.

The UK announced that a “British ground-based counter drone unit operating in a high-threat area took out the largest number of drones in a single night since the conflict began.”

Air raid alerts sounded at 6 am local time in Doha, as L’Observatoire de l’Europe journalists there report loud explosions as the country’s air defences engaged incoming Iranian fire. 

Iran’s judiciary said on Wednesday that it has executed a man it accused of spying for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency.

The judiciary’s Mizan news agency identified the man as Kourosh Keyvani.

It alleged he “provided images and information on sensitive locations” to the Mossad. Keyvani was the first publicly announced execution for spying during the current war.

Iran, one of the world’s top executioners, has long killed people convicted of spying charges in closed-door hearings where they can’t fully contest the cases against them.

Activists and rights groups have warned since Iran’s nationwide protests in January that the Islamic Republic could begin conducting mass executions. Iran violently suppressed the protests through violence that killed thousands and saw tens of thousands detained.

In the aftermath of Iran’s eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s, international rights groups estimate as many as 5,000 people were executed.

A senior Australian government minister said he isn’t aware of any formal US request for military support to help keep the Strait of Hormuz open amid spiralling energy prices.

Australia’s Treasurer Jim Chalmers was responding on Wednesday to US President Donald Trump’s complaint that Australia, Japan, South Korea and NATO had rejected his calls to help secure the strait from Iranian attack.

Asked if Australia had received any formal US request for extra military support to keep the strait open, Chalmers told Australian media outlets “Not that I’m aware of.”

“It’s not something that we’ve been considering, in terms of sending battleships to the Strait of Hormuz,” Chalmers insisted in another interview.

Iran launched a barrage of what it said were multiple-warhead missiles aimed at central Israel on Wednesday to avenge the deaths of two of its top security officials, who were killed in overnight Israeli strikes the day prior, as the war enters day 19.

In a major blow to the Islamic Republic’s leadership, Israel announced on Tuesday that its strikes in Tehran eliminated Gholam Reza Soleimani, the IRGC’s all-volunteer Basij paramilitary unit chief, and top security official Ali Larijani, who served as secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

Iran’s attacks have also targeted its neighbours in the Gulf region, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Attacks were also reported in Iraq, where an Iranian drone was seen directly hitting the US embassy compound in Baghdad.

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