Iran takes revenge over top security chief death as Israeli couple killed in deadly strikes

Iran has hit back at Israel with missiles carrying cluster warheads in what it said was retaliation for the assassination of security chief Ali Larijani.

Authorities said the attacks killed a couple in a neighbourhood close to Tel Aviv, where there are also key military facilities, bringing the death toll in Israel from the war to at least 14.

Israel has said Iran has repeatedly used cluster warheads, which disperse into multiple smaller explosives mid-air and spread over a wide area, making them difficult for the nation's Iron Dome defence system to intercept.

Key officials in Tehran said the death of Larijani would not hinder its operations with replacements swiftly appointed, as Israel launched a swathe of strikes against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

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Israeli Defence Force (IDF) official Col Olivier Rafowicz told The Telegraph a couple in their 70s were found dead just outside the door to a bomb shelter in their building in Ramat Gan, to the east of Tel Aviv.

Rafowicz said: "The goal was to hit civilian centres".

After the attack, Iranian state television reported that Tehran had targeted Tel Aviv with missiles carrying cluster munitions in what it said was retaliation for the assassination of Larijani.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards said they launched the attacks "in revenge for the blood of martyr Dr Ali Larijani and his companions" with Iran’s army chief also threatening further "decisive and regrettable" retaliation.

********Israeli airstrikes in Beirut killed at least six people on Wednesday, the Lebanese health ministry said, shaking the heart of the Lebanese capital as Israel intensified its offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group. Israeli airstrikes also pounded the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut, where footage showed explosions lighting up the night sky.

The latest strikes suck Lebanon deeper into the war in the Middle East after Hezbollah attacked Israel on March 2, saying it aimed to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader.

Israel has responded with an offensive that has killed more than 900 people in Lebanon and forced more than 800,000 from their homes, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Israel's military has acknowledged that its tank fire hit a UN position in southern Lebanon on March 6, wounding Ghanaian peacekeepers,

A spokesman said: "The IDF regrets the incident and has conveyed its apologies through the appropriate channels to Ghana and the United Nations. The findings of the investigations have been disseminated within the IDF to prevent recurrence of similar incidents."

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The United States military said it had targeted sites along Iran's coastline near the Strait of Hormuz with powerful "bunker buster" bombs because Iranian anti-ship missiles posed a risk to international shipping there.

The strait, a transit point for a fifth of the global oil trade, remains largely closed as Iran threatens to attack tankers linked to the US and Israel.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly castigated allied countries in recent days for their response to his requests for military help to restore the passage of oil tankers through the waterway.

Most US allies in the Nato have told President Trump they don't want to get involved in the conflict, describing their position as "a very foolish mistake."

With no signs of a de-escalation in fighting, oil prices are up around 45 per cent since the start of the war on February 28, raising concerns of a renewed spike in global inflation.

The World Food Programme said tens of millions of people will face acute hunger if the war continues through June.

Global airlines sounded the alarm over soaring jet fuel prices, warning of hundreds of millions of extra costs, higher fares and cuts to some routes.

Flights have been cancelled, rescheduled or rerouted as most Middle East airspace remains closed amid fears of missile and drone attacks.

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