Iran's security chief, Basij commander killed

Khamenei rejects talks of de-escalation; Lebanon proposes first direct talks with Israel in decades

- REUTERS/ AP

Israel claimed on Tuesday to have killed Iran's security chief, while a senior Iranian official said the new supreme leader had rejected deescalation offers conveyed by intermediaries, demanding Israel and the US first be “brought to their knees”.

The senior official, who asked not to be identified, said two intermediary countries had conveyed proposals to Iran's Foreign Ministry for “reducing tensions or ceasefire with the United States”. The official did not give further details.

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who had held his first foreign policy session since being named supreme leader, had responded that it was not “the right time for peace until the United States and Israel are brought to their knees, accept defeat, and pay compensation”, the official said.

He did not clarify whether Khamenei, who has not yet been pictured since being named last week to replace his slain father, had attended the meeting in person or remotely.

The US-Israeli war on Iran is now in its third week, with at least 2,000 people killed and no end in sight.

The Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed off and US allies have rebuffed US President Donald Trump's calls for them to help to reopen the vital waterway, through which about 20 percent of global oil and liquefied natural gas flows.

Oil prices rose about 2 per cent on Tuesday as Iran renewed its strikes on oil facilities in the United Arab Emirates, and are up around 45 percent since the start of the war, raising concerns of a renewed spike in global inflation.

Israel targets Iran’s security officials

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israeli forces had killed Iran's security chief Ali Larijani, as well as Gholamreza Soleimani who led the volunteer Basij militia, which plays a major role in domestic security.