US-Israel-Iran War News LIVE Updates: Iran Fires Fresh Missiles At Israel After Top Security Chief Killed

Lebanon Civil Defense said 11 of its personnel were injured in an Israeli strike on the city of Nabatieh.

Lebanese authorities report that Israeli attacks since March 2 have killed at least 912 people and displaced over one million residents, with more than 130,000 currently taking shelter in official facilities.

An Israeli air strike has killed Iran's security chief, Ali Larijani. This has removed one of the Islamic Republic's experienced policy makers at a critical moment.

Larijani was not a military commander. He was a central figure in shaping Iran's strategic decisions.

As secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, he took part in decision-making on war, diplomacy, and national security.

His voice carried weight across the system, particularly in managing Iran's confrontation with the United States and Israel.

His death comes amid a broader campaign in which several senior Iranian officials and commanders have been killed within a matter of weeks. This pattern suggests a sustained effort to weaken Iran's leadership structure during wartime.

Despite his hardline stance against the West, Larijani was often described inside Iran as a pragmatist. He combined ideological loyalty with a technocratic approach, favouring calculated strategy over rhetoric.

According to BBC, the Israeli air strike killed Ali Larijani.

Top national security officials from the Trump administration are due to face back-to-back congressional hearings starting on Wednesday 18 March 2026.

According to AP, they are expected to be questioned about the war in Iran, including a deadly strike on a school, and about the FBI’s ability to stop terror attacks inside the United States.

The annual worldwide threats hearings, which involve the government’s most senior intelligence officials, are taking place amid scrutiny of the US military campaign in the Middle East.

There are also heightened concerns about terrorism in the US following recent attacks at a Michigan synagogue and a Virginia university.

An Israeli airstrike hit a building in Beirut’s Bachoura neighbourhood, in the centre of the city, on Wednesday 18 March 2026. A Reuters witness reported hearing a loud explosion in the area.

The Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for residents of the building before carrying out the strike.

The attack was one of several Israeli strikes on Lebanon that day. These included raids on other districts of Beirut as well as locations in southern and eastern Lebanon.

The operations mark an escalation in Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran.

The US military has struck Iranian missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz using powerful bombs able to penetrate bunkers.

In a post on X the US Central Command said its forces had successfully used multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions on hardened Iranian missile sites along Iran's coastline of the strait.

The Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles at these sites posed a risk to international shipping in the strait, according to the US military.

Iran has effectively closed the waterway, through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil shipments pass, sharply disrupting maritime traffic and pushing up global oil prices.

The bombs, known as bunker busters and reportedly costing an estimated $288,000 each, are less powerful than the 30,000-pound bombs the US dropped last year on three underground nuclear sites in Iran.

There have been reports of new attacks on the US embassy compound in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad overnight.

AFP and Reuters news agencies reported explosions in the early hours of Wednesday local time.

The agencies cited security sources and AFP journalists in the city heard explosions near the embassy, which is in the highly fortified Green Zone area, home to many diplomatic missions and international organisations.

The US outpost has been attacked several times since the start of the war.