Iranian intelligence minister killed in precision airstrike, as US military targets missile sites

 Iran’s Minister of Intelligence Esmaeil Khatib was killed overnight in a precision strike, a senior Israeli official told Fox News. 

U.S. Central Command said Tuesday night that U.S. forces struck Iranian missile sites along the country’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz using powerful deep-penetrating munitions.

Khatib, was responsible for overseeing Iran’s entire global terror apparatus, including sleeper cells in locations around the world.

Two people were killed in a missile strike on Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv, Israel, according to Israeli emergency responders on the scene. Since the beginning of Operation Epic Fury and Operation Roaring Lion on Feb. 28, Iran has been launching attacks at countries across the Middle East, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia.

U.S. Central Command, CENTCOM, said Tuesday night that "U.S. forces successfully employed multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions on hardened Iranian missile sites along Iran’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz." The strait, a key maritime passage connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, is vital for the transportation of oil and the global energy supply.  

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed Parliament in the U.K. on Tuesday. 

Zelensky said Kyiv has deployed military experts to the Middle East to help U.S. allies defend against Iranian drones, offering Ukraine’s war-tested capabilities as part of expanding defense cooperation.

While addressing U.K.’s Parliament, Zelenskyy said the deployments include more than 200 Ukrainian personnel already in the region, with additional teams preparing to deploy.

“Right now, there are 201 Ukrainians in the Middle East and the Gulf region, and another 34 are ready to deploy,” he said. “These are military experts who know how to defend against ‘shahed’ drones. Our teams are already in the Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and on the way to Kuwait. We are working with several other countries — agreements are already in place. We do not want this terror of the Iranian regime against its neighbors to succeed.”

“I sent these military experts at the request of our partners, including the United States,” Zelenskyy continued. “This is part of the Drone Deal we proposed to the United States, which we worked on together and which is still on the table. We are ready to offer similar deals to all our reliable partners — from practical cooperation on drones to future defense alliances.”

In his remarks, Zelenskyy said Gulf nations are well defended against ballistic missile threats with systems like Patriot and THAAD, but warned that adversaries such as Iran continue to seek cheaper ways, including drones, to bypass those defences.