Iran vowed retaliation and launched a wave of missile attacks on Israel Wednesday as it prepared to hold a funeral for security chief Ali Larijani, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike.
A barrage of Iranian missiles killed two people near Israel's commercial hub Tel Aviv, while Gulf nations intercepted rockets and drones headed for targets including U.S. bases in the region.
According to Iran's Fars and Tasnim news agencies, funerals for Larijani and another powerful figure killed by Israel, Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Basij paramilitary force, will take place from 10:30 a.m. GMT in Tehran.
Their deaths were announced on Tuesday.
Larijani is the most prominent figure of the Islamic Republic killed since Israel and the United States launched their attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and igniting a war across the Middle East.
The slain ayatollah's funeral was due to be held days after he was killed, but that was later postponed indefinitely.
"Iran's response to the assassination of the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council will be decisive and regrettable," Iranian army chief Amir Hatami said in a statement.
Besides sending missiles and drones into Israel and Gulf nations, Iran has sought to extract a heavy toll on the global economy, including by driving up the cost of oil by all but closing the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for crude.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards, which said Wednesday they launched missiles at central Israel as retaliation, warned in a statement that Larijani's death would spur further attacks.
The "pure blood of this great martyr ... will be a source of honor, power and national awakening against the front of global arrogance," the powerful military force said in a statement.
Türkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan lashed out at Israel, condemning its "political assassinations" of Tehran's leaders as "illegal activities outside the normal laws of war."
But Israel vowed also to target the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not appeared in public since he succeeded his father.
"We will track him down, find him, and neutralize him," military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin told reporters.
