Israel says it has killed head of Iran's Basij militia
[March 17, 2026]
By JON GAMBRELL, DAVID RISING and SAMY MAGDY
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel said Tuesday it had killed the
head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ all-volunteer Basij force, a
key force used to suppress demonstrations in the Islamic Republic, as
Gulf Arab nations came under renewed missile and drone fire from Iran.
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 early Tuesday it had begun a “wide-scale
wave of strikes” across Iran’s capital and was stepping up strikes on
Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. Israel also reported two
incoming salvos before dawn from Iran at Tel Aviv and elsewhere, and
said Hezbollah targeted Israel’s north.
Israel says it has killed head of Iranian militia force
The Israeli military said a strike Monday killed Basij head Gen. 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 U.S. Treasury lists Soleimani as having been born in 1965. He has
been sanctioned by the U.S., the European Union and other nations over
his role in helping suppress dissent for years through the Basij.
Since the war began Feb. 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 would likely 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.
Iranian strikes pressure neighbors and oil markets
Iran kept up the pressure on the energy infrastructure of its Gulf Arab
neighbors, hitting an oil facility in Fujairah, a UAE emirate on the
country’s east coast 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.
The man killed by falling debris from an intercepted missile was the
eighth person to die in the UAE since the start of the war, authorities
said.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz,
through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, has given rise
to increasing concerns of a global energy crisis. Early 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 Feb. 28.
Iran's parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said his country
had been given no choice but to keep up its pressure on shipping traffic
in the strait.
“They are flying, launching missiles, should we just sit back and do
nothing in response?" he said in an interview on state television.
With Washington under increasing pressure over rising oil prices, Brent
crude, the international standard, remained over $100 a barrel, up more
than 40% since the war started.
U.S. 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
skeptical that they could do more than the U.S. Navy.
UAE briefly closes airspace as Iran launches new attacks on Gulf
neighbors
The UAE shut down its airspace early Tuesday as its military reported it
was “responding to missile and drone threats from Iran." The closure was
soon lifted, and not long after the sounds of explosions could be heard
as the military worked to intercept incoming fire.
The snap announcement on its airspace showed the balancing act Emirati
authorities face in trying to keep their long-haul carriers, Emirates
and Etihad, flying as Iranian attacks continue to target the country.
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Two men ride their motorbike past a billboard of the Iranian Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in downtown Tehran, Iran,
Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry reported intercepting a dozen drones
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 defenses worked to intercept incoming fire. Qatar's
Defense 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 U.S.
Embassy in Baghdad was hit with shrapnel from drones that had been
intercepted.
The embassy's air defenses 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 wasn’t clear who carried out either attack but Iran-allied
militias have regularly been attacking American targets inside Iraq
since the conflict began.
Israel launches new attacks on Tehran and steps up strikes on
Beirut
The Israeli military early Tuesday said it had launched new attacks
across Tehran in addition to the Lebanese capital targeting
Hezbollah militants.
In Iran, it said it hit command centers, missile launch sites and
air defense systems. There was no immediate confirmation from Iran,
where little information has been coming out due to internet
outages, round-the-clock airstrikes and tight restrictions on
journalists.
Israel did not immediately release details of its attacks on
Lebanon, but the Lebanese army said two of its soldiers were
seriously wounded in an airstrike on the village of Kfar Sir.
More than 1,300 people have been killed in Iran since the start of
the conflict, according to the Iranian Red Crescent.
Israel’s strikes have also displaced more than 1 million Lebanese —
or roughly 20% of the population — according to the Lebanese
government, which says some 850 people have been killed.
Some Israeli troops have pushed into southern Lebanon, and there are
fears Israel is preparing a large-scale invasion.
The military's chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, said Monday on a
visit to the northern border that Israel's army is “determined to
deepen the operation until all of our objectives are achieved” and
that the military's Northern Command is being reinforced with
additional soldiers.
Israel reported two Iranian salvos early Tuesday fired toward Tel
Aviv and an area south of the Sea of Galilee. More launches from
Lebanon were also reported.
In Israel, 12 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire. At
least 13 U.S. military members have been killed.
Closure of Strait of Hormuz pressures oil shipping
The virtual shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz is unnerving the world
economy, driving up energy prices, threatening food shortages in
poor countries, destabilizing fragile states and complicating
efforts by central banks to drive down prices for consumers.
There have been a handful of ships getting through, primarily
Iranian but also from other countries including India and Turkey,
and Iran has said it technically remains open — just not for the
United States, Israel and its allies. Iraq said Tuesday it was in
talks with Iran about allowing passage for its ships.
Underscoring the danger of even getting close to the strait, a
tanker anchored off the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates
was hit by a projectile early Tuesday morning and sustained minor
damage, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations
center, run by the British military.
___
Rising reported from Bangkok and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press
writers Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia; Giovanna Dell'Orto in
Miami, Florida; Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad; and Bassem Mroue in
Beirut contributed to this report.
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