Tel Aviv, Israel. Iran targeted Tel Aviv with missiles carrying cluster warheads in what it said was retaliation for Israel’s assassination of Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani, Iranian state television reported on Wednesday. The overnight attack on Tuesday killed two people in a neighbourhood close to densely populated Tel Aviv, bringing the death toll in Israel from the war to at least 14.
Iranian missile strike and reported weapons
A statement by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, read on state TV, said the weapons used included Khorramshahr 4 and Qadr missiles, both with multi-warheads.
Israel has said Iran has repeatedly used cluster warheads, which disperse into multiple smaller explosives mid-air and spread over a wide area, making them difficult to intercept.
Bushehr area incident and IAEA response
In Iran, a projectile hit an area near the Bushehr nuclear power plant on Tuesday evening but 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.
Targeted killings and escalation
Israel and the U.S. 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’s supreme leader and many other top officials.
The Iranian government on Tuesday confirmed the killing of Larijani, the most senior figure targeted since the U.S.-Israeli war’s first day, when an Israeli strike killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, which Larijani led as secretary, said Larijani’s son and his deputy, Alireza Bayat, were also killed in an Israeli attack on Monday night.
The targeted killings took place as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran shows no signs of de-escalation.
Iran’s position on ceasefire proposals
Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has rejected proposals conveyed to Iran’s Foreign Ministry for “reducing tensions or ceasefire with the United States,” according to a senior Iranian official who asked not to be identified.
Khamenei, attending his first foreign-policy meeting since his appointment, 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,” according to the official.
What impact do you think the continued escalation could have on efforts to prevent a nuclear accident?