PARIS, March 18 — Here are the latest developments Tuesday in the Middle East war

US strikes near Strait of Hormuz

US Central Command said Tuesday it had hit Iranian missile sites with “multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions,” some of the most powerful bombs in the US arsenal, near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Kuwait, Saudi Arabia report Iran attacks

Saudi Arabia intercepted six drones and Kuwait’s air defences responded to a rocket and drone attack, authorities from both countries said on Wednesday.

Two killed near Tel Aviv from Iranian missiles

A barrage of missiles from Iran killed two people near Tel Aviv, Israeli medical officials said Wednesday, bringing the death toll from missiles fired on the country to 14.

Iran confirms death of security chief Larijani

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council on Tuesday confirmed the death of its chief Ali Larijani, after Israel said it had killed him in an air strike.

“The pure souls of the martyrs embraced the purified soul of God’s righteous servant, Martyr Dr. Ali Larijani,” the council said, adding that his son and his bodyguards had died with him.

Israel strikes central Beirut

Israel hit a central Beirut neighbourhood early Wednesday, local media reported, in a strike that came without warning, as further attacks targeted the city’s southern suburbs.

Local media reported the strike hit the central Zuqaq al-Blat neighbourhood, where last week the Israeli military targeted a Beirut branch of the Hezbollah-linked financial firm Al-Qard Al-Hassan.

Ukrainian anti-drone experts

Over 200 Ukrainian anti-drone military experts were in several Middle East countries to help defend against Iranian-designed drones, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

US embassy struck

The US embassy in Baghdad was the target of a drone and rocket attack, a security official said.

The strike sparked a fire on embassy grounds, the source said, while a witness reported seeing the fire from her balcony.

Crowds gather in Iran

Crowds gathered in Iranian cities after authorities called for nationwide rallies to defy enemy “plots”, state television said.

The rallies come on a night usually marked by Persian new year (Nowruz) festivities, with the authorities apparently keen to prevent any anti-government dissent at a time when people traditionally take to the streets.

Nato, Britain ‘mistakes’

US President Donald Trump said that Nato was making a “foolish mistake” on Iran, after the military alliance’s members largely rebuffed his calls to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil traffic.

Trump also said he was disappointed with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s response, telling reporters: “He hasn’t been supportive, and I think it’s a big mistake... I’m disappointed with Keir—I like him, I think he’s a nice man, but I’m disappointed.”

Israel says striking Basij

Israel’s military said it was striking positions of Iran’s Basij paramilitary force around Tehran, after announcing it had killed the volunteer militia’s top commander.

US doesn’t ‘need’ help

Trump said “we no longer need” help reopening the Strait of Hormuz, after his request for allies to quickly send warships was snubbed.

“We have had such Military Success, we no longer ‘need,’ or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance — WE NEVER DID!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!”

US counterterrorism official quits

A top US counterterrorism official, Joseph Kent, resigned to protest the war. “I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Kent, who was appointed by Trump, said in his resignation letter.

Trump said Kent was “weak on security” and it was a “good thing” he quit.

Lebanese troops killed

Lebanon’s military said that three soldiers were killed in Israeli air strikes in the country’s south.

Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli attacks have killed 912 people in the country since the latest Israel-Hezbollah conflict erupted on March 2, up from 886 a day earlier.

Hezbollah denial

Hezbollah denied it had any members in Kuwait after the Gulf country announced the arrest of 14 Kuwaitis and two Lebanese nationals allegedly affiliated with the group over a “sabotage plot”.

Kuwait’s interior ministry said Monday that the group “aimed to destabilise the country’s security and recruit individuals to join the terrorist organisation”. It said weapons, camera drones and communication devices were seized. — AFP