Iran launches ‘revenge’ missile attack on Israel after assassinations

Iran has fired deadly cluster missiles at central Israel in what it says is “revenge” for Israel’s assassination of its security chief Ali Larijani, as the war the United States and Israel triggered against Iran rages towards a third week.

The attack overnight on Tuesday used multiple-warhead missiles that can better evade defence systems, killing two people in Israel’s Ramat Gan area near Tel Aviv.

Falling shrapnel injured several others and caused significant property damage, including at a Tel Aviv train station, according to Israeli media reports.

In a statement, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said the attack exacted “revenge for the blood of martyr Dr. Ali Larijani and his companions”.

Iran will hold funerals Wednesday for Larijani as well as Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij paramilitary force, who were both killed in Israeli air strikes.

Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, described it as a “difficult night” in Israel, with the incoming cluster munitions causing “a lot of alarm”.

She said the two people killed in the country – a couple in their 70s – had a safe room in their home but were unable to reach it in time, raising concern that Israel’s air-raid sirens are not sounding quickly enough for people to react.

Iran followed up with another wave of missile strikes on central Israel on Wednesday morning.

At home, Iranian authorities executed a man accused of spying for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, according to the country’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency.

Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran had informed it that a projectile hit the premises of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant on Tuesday, though there was no damage to the facility or injuries.

Israel’s killing of Larijani yesterday was the highest profile assassination since it targeted Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war. In addition to Larijani, Israel also killed Soleimani.

Iran has insisted its system of governance is resilient and capable of withstanding such losses.

“I do not know why the Americans and the Israelis still have not understood this point: The Islamic Republic of Iran has a strong political structure with established political, economic and social institutions,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera. “The presence or absence of a single individual does not affect this structure.”

Al Jazeera’s Mohamed Vall, reporting from Tehran, said “the sheer number of leaders” being killed is causing fear and uncertainty.

“The US president just a few days ago said we don’t know who remains to talk to. It’s a very confusing situation, one that can lead into any direction,” said Vall.