Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday (March 17) the Israeli military had killed Iran's security chief and the head of its Basij militia in airstrikes overnight.

Katz said in a video statement that 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 U.S. 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-U.S. airstrikes on February 28.

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

In his last public appearance, Larijani was seen at a large pro-Palestine protest marking the annual Quds (Jerusalem) Day on the final Friday of Ramadan.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday (March 17) the Israeli military had killed Iran's security chief and the head of its Basij militia in airstrikes overnight.

Katz said in a video statement that 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 U.S. 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-U.S. airstrikes on February 28.

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

In his last public appearance, Larijani was seen at a large pro-Palestine protest marking the annual Quds (Jerusalem) Day on the final Friday of Ramadan.

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TEHRAN, IRAN (MARCH 13, 2026) (POOL VIA WANA - No use VOA Persian, no use BBC Persian, no use Manoto, no use Iran International, no use Radio Farda)

1. PRO-PALESTINIAN QUDS DAY RALLY IN TEHRAN

2. (SOUNDBITE) (Farsi) IRAN'S SECURITY CHIEF ALI LARIJANI SAYING (SOUNDBITE STARTS OVER SHOT OF PEOPLE WAVING FLAGS AT RALLY)

"Trump's problem is that he does not have the wisdom to realise that Iranian people are brave, they are a strong nation and a determined nation. The more pressure he puts, the stronger the Iranian people will become."

3. (SOUNDBITE) (Farsi) IRAN'S SECURITY CHIEF ALI LARIJANI SAYING:

"His attacks are out of fear, out of desperation. Someone who is strong does not bomb the middle of demonstrations. He is running out of options."

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TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (MARCH 17, 2026) (DEFENCE MINISTRY HANDOUT – Access all)

4. (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) ISRAELI MINISTER OF DEFENCE, ISRAEL KATZ, SITTING IN ARMY CONTROL ROOM, SAYING:

"I have just been updated by the Chief of Staff that the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Larijani and the head of the Basij, Iran’s central repression apparatus, (Soleimani) who is responsible for the massacre of the protesters, were eliminated last night and have joined the head of the annihilation programme Khamenei, along with all those eliminated from the axis of evil in the depths of hell."

A missile was seen intercepted in central Israel in the early hours of Tuesday (March 17) where the Israeli army said were Iranian attacks on its territory.

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HEBRON, WEST BANK (MARCH 17, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

5. MISSILE INTERCEPTED IN SKY OVER CENTRAL ISRAEL, AS SEEN FROM WEST BANK

Clouds of smoke rose steadily over southern Beirut following a series of Israeli strikes early on Tuesday (March 17), with flashes of explosions clearly visible during the attacks as seen from footage captured by Reuters.

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BAABDA, LEBANON (MARCH 17, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all) (NIGHT SHOTS)

6. EXPLOSION FLASH (LEFT) / SMOKE RISING OVER SOUTHERN SUBURBS OF BEIRUT, AS SEEN FROM BAABDA, AFTER ISRAELI STRIKE (TC 0104 GMT)

7. SMOKE RISING AFTER ISRAELI STRIKE (TC 0105 GMT)

A funeral was held in the early hours of Tuesday (March 17) morning in Baghdad for six members of the Popular Mobilisation Forces following an air strike that hit their positions near the Syrian border.

The airstrike hit the city of Al-Qaim, according to security sources.

At least 30 people have been killed in Iraq since the start of the conflict, according to Iraqi health authorities. Most of those were members of the Shi'ite Popular Mobilisation Forces.

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BAGHDAD, IRAQ (MARCH 17, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all) (NIGHT SHOTS)

8. VARIOUS OF COFFIN WITH IRAQI FLAG COLOURS ON TOP OF VEHICLE DURING A FUNERAL CEREMONY FOR MEMBERS OF IRAQ’S POPULAR MOBILISATION FORCES KILLED IN AIRSTRIKES THAT HIT THEIR POSITIONS IN AL-QAIM, NEAR THE SYRIAN BORDER/ MOURNERS SURROUNDING VEHICLE

9. PEOPLE USING TAPE TO ATTACH PICTURES TO COFFIN

10. VEHICLE CARRYING COFFIN DRIVING THROUGH CROWD

11. CROWDS DURING FUNERAL, SOME CARRYING PICTURES OF LATE AYATOLLAH ALI KHAMENEI

12. VEHICLE CARRYING COFFIN

A wave of drone and rocket attacks targeted the U.S. embassy in Baghdad early on Tuesday (March 17), Iraqi security sources said, describing it as the most intense assault since the attacks began, with at least five drones used.

A powerful explosion was heard in the Iraqi capital, a Reuters witness reported on Tuesday, and video showed at least one drone being hit by projectiles.

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BAGHDAD, IRAQ (MARCH 17, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) (NIGHT SHOTS)

13. BALL OF FIRE EXPLODING IN DISTANCE, SOUND OF EXPLOSION, PLUME OF SMOKE RISING INTO AIR

14. TRAIL OF PROJECTILES FIRING INTO AIR, SOUND OF PROJECTILES BEING FIRED

15. DRONE FLYING, DRONE HIT BY TRAIL OF PROJECTILES FIRED INTO THE AIR, SOUND OF EXPLOSIONS

Eyewitness video showed another angle to the drones flying in formation in the sky over the embassy compound, followed by fire and a huge plume of smoke rising after a blast struck the embassy building.

Reuters was able to confirm the location from buildings, road layout, water body, the construction crane and the pillar of the restaurant which matched file and satellite image. The strike happened within the vicinity of coordinates at 33.29897989833943, 44.38517051381258.

The exact time was not verified but no older version of the video was found posted online before March 17.

Security sources confirmed that drones and rockets attacked the US embassy in Baghdad on March 17.

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BAGHDAD, IRAQ (RELEASED MARCH 17, 2026) (SOCIAL MEDIA - No resales / No archive / News use only) (NIGHT SHOT)

16. DRONES FLYING IN SKY OVER U.S. EMBASSY COMPOUND, DRONES EXPLODING IN SKY / HUGE BLAST AT U.S. EMBASSY BUILDING, FOLLOWED BY FIRE AND SMOKE RISING

U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Monday (March 16) expressed support for the way President Donald Trump was handling the war in Iran and said he trusted him to make sure that "the mistakes of the past" are not repeated.

Vance's comments appeared to be an effort to counter questions about whether his well-known anti-war and isolationist views put him at odds with Trump. Since the war began on February 28, Vance had not publicly offered unequivocal support for it.

Part of the speculation over a possible disagreement had been triggered by Trump's comments in previous weeks that Vance, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps two decades ago, was "philosophically a little bit different" than him and that he was "maybe less enthusiastic" about attacking Iran.

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WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (MARCH 16, 2026) (UNRESTRICTED POOL - Access all)

17. WIDE OF U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP SPEAKING NEXT TO U.S. VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE AT THE OVAL OFFICE

18. (SOUNDBITE) (English) REPORTER, SAYING:

"[ASKS U.S. VICE PRESIDENT VANCE] Given your past skepticism of foreign adventurism, are you completely on board with the current war in Iran?"

19. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, JD VANCE, IN EXCHANGE WITH REPORTER, SAYING:

"You're trying to drive a wedge between members of the administration, between me and the president. What the president said consistently going back to 2015 and I agreed with them is that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon. We have taken this military action under the president's leadership. I think all of us, whether you're a Democrat or Republican, should pray for a success and pray for the safety of our troops. That's the approach that I've taken, make it as successful as possible."

REPORTER: "So there's no hesitation, given your past statements with the current operation?"

VANCE: "What do you mean there's no hesitation with my past statements?"

REPORTER: "Given your skepticism of war adventurism, you were a critic of the global war on terror previously?"

VANCE: "Well, I think one big difference, Phil, is that we have a smart president, whereas in the past we've had dumb presidents. And I trust President Trump to get the job done, to do a good job for the American people, and to make sure that the mistakes of the past aren't repeated, absolutely."

20. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

"So JD's been great. But here's the simple thing. And I have some people. I don't want wars. I want wars less than almost anybody. Peace through strength."

21. WIDE OF TRUMP TALKING TO MEDIA

22. (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

"I'm very proud of what we did, and I think JD understands better than most. If you give Iran a nuclear weapon, at least a very substantial part of the world would be blown up and it'll be used almost immediately. Yes [POINTS TO A REPORTER] You don't mind if I keep this here, do you? Isn't that a beautiful thing? [TRUMP LOOKS AT B-2 BOMBER REPLICA]"

23. REPORTERS LISTENING AS TRUMP SPEAKS

An Iranian military spokesman taunted U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday (March 17), saying the outcome of war "cannot be determined by tweets" but only on the battlefield, a place he said American forces "do not dare to approach."

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UNKNOWN LOCATION, IRAN (RELEASED MARCH 17, 2026) (POOL VIA WANA - No use BBC Persian. No use VOA Persian. No use Manoto. No use Iran International. No use Radio Farda)

24. (SOUNDBITE) (English) KHATAM AL-ANBIA BASE SPOKESMAN, EBRAHIM ZOLFAGHARI, SAYING:

"A message to the President of the United States. The outcome of war cannot be determined by tweets. The result of a war is determined in the field, the very place where you and your forces do not dare to approach, and you can only talk about it in your tweets. It is better to name this war as 'Epic Fear' instead of 'Epic Fury'."

The United States Central Command on Tuesday (March 17) released a video showing what it said were strikes on Iranian military targets.

Reuters was not able to verify the location or the date when the video was filmed. No older version of the video was found posted online before Tuesday.

(4791-IRAN-CRISIS/USA-AIRSTRIKE)

UNKNOWN LOCATION (RELEASED MARCH 17, 2026) (CENTCOM – Must on-screen courtesy ‘CENTCOM’) (MUTE)

25. VARIOUS OF FOOTAGE RELEASED BY U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND SAID TO SHOW STRIKES ON IRANIAN TARGETS

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul warned on Tuesday (March 17) that continued disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz could have devastating consequences for global food security.

The Foreign Minister stressed the need for de-escalation and diplomatic solutions, repeating Germany's position to not participate in the war in a military capacity.

(4712-GERMANY-GREECE/)

BERLIN, GERMANY (MARCH 17, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

26. ARRIVAL OF GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER, JOHANN WADEPHUL, AND HIS GREEK COUNTERPART, GIORGOS GERAPETRITIS, TO PRESS CONFERENCE

27. CAMERA FILMING WADEPHUL

28. (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER, JOHANN WADEPHUL, SAYING:

"The Strait of Hormuz must be made navigable again as soon as possible. This war must come to an end soon. Not only oil and gas, but also fertilisers needed worldwide are exported via the Persian Gulf. If these shipments are disrupted, it will have devastating consequences for global food security."

29. MEDIA

30. (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER, JOHANN WADEPHUL, SAYING:

"During my trip to the Middle East, it was clear in every conversation: Iran’s indiscriminate attacks are unacceptable. We must work together to find ways to de-escalate the situation and lay the groundwork for a diplomatic solution."

31. PRESS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS

Damage to vehicles and a train station could be seen in several sites across central Israel after an Iranian missile attack on Tuesday (March 17).

Videos distributed by Israel's ambulance service MDA showed security and rescue teams in at least two different sites hit by what Israeli media report was an Iranian cluster warhead.

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CENTRAL ISRAEL (MARCH 17, 2026) (MDA - Access all) (MUTE)

32. ISRAELI SECURITY, MEDICS NEAR DAMAGED BUS AT ONE OF SEVERAL SITES THAT WERE HIT DURING AN IRANIAN MISSILE ATTACK TOWARD CENTRAL ISRAEL

33. CRATER IN GROUND/ DAMAGED VEHICLE

34. DAMAGE TO BUS AND VEHICLE AT SITE

35. PARAMEDIC AND FIREFIGHTER STANDING IN DAMAGED TRAIN STATION

36. SECURITY AND MEDICS AT A SECOND SITE HIT DURING IRANIAN MISSILE ATTACK

37. POLICE APPROACHING CRATER IN GROUND

38. CRATER