MOSCOW, March 18 (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Wednesday condemned what it called "the murder" of Iran's leaders in U.S.-Israeli airstrikes, a day after Iran's semi-official Fars news agency confirmed that Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had been killed in Tehran.

By Emilie Madi, Claudia Greco and Maya Gebeily

BEIRUT, March 18 (Reuters) - Near the tent she now calls home, Salam Issa Rida dropped pieces of marinated chicken into a pan sizzling atop a camping stove. Her family had been craving chicken to break their daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan. So she had risked her life to get it.

Earlier that day, the Lebanese mother of six had snuck back to her home in Beirut's southern suburbs, declared a no-go zone by Israel's military and bombed heavily by its warplanes.

By Tim Reid

WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) - The Iran war is influencing Democratic primaries ahead of November's midterm elections, with progressives faulting moderate rivals for not opposing President Donald Trump's bombing campaign strongly enough and for what they call overly close ties with defense contractors and Israel.

BEIJING, March 18 (Reuters) - China will continue mediating to push for a ceasefire and an end to fighting in the Middle East, its foreign minister said, adding the war should never have happened and had no reason to continue, according to a foreign ministry statement.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the remarks on Wednesday during a meeting in Beijing with the UAE presidential special envoy to China, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, in which he also voiced support for the UAE in safeguarding its sovereignty and security.

By Helen Coster and Nathan Layne

NEW YORK, March 18 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump and his allies are attacking news organizations for their coverage of the Iran war, a conflict the administration says is going well for the United States but is unpopular with the public and has plunged the Middle East into chaos.

By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) - U.S. senators get a chance on Wednesday to question top aides to President Donald Trump in public about national security nearly three weeks into the Iran war as the Senate intelligence committee holds its annual hearing on worldwide threats to the United States.

Israelis have been rushing to bomb shelters for more than two weeks as sirens warn of Iranian missile strikes, the veterinary service in commercial hub Tel Aviv has a clear message: leave no pet behind.

"Alarms? Missiles firing? Don't forget your four-legged friends!" read the service's online guide on caring for animals during the war.

"During emergencies, our dogs and cats also experience fear and confusion," it added.

Dogs on leads and cats in carriers have been seen by AFP journalists being taken for cover and waiting in the underground shelters across the city.

MOSCOW, March 18 (Reuters) - Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that a Wall Street Journal report that Russia is sharing satellite imagery and improved drone technology with Iran is "fake news".

Russia has been expanding its intelligence sharing and military cooperation with Iran, providing satellite imagery and improved drone technology to aid Tehran’s targeting of U.S. forces in the region, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

ANKARA, March 18 (Reuters) - NATO is deploying another U.S. Patriot missile defence system to the southern Turkish province of Adana, where personnel from the United States and other countries are located in the Incirlik Air Base, Turkey's Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.

Turkey, which has NATO's second-largest army and neigbhbours Iran, said last week the alliance had deployed a Patriot system to its southeastern Malatya province, near a NATO radar base, as part of steps to boost air defences against missile threats from the Iran war.

Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:

- Iran executions -

Iran executed three people convicted of killing police officers and carrying out operations in favour of the United States and Israel during unrest earlier this year, the judiciary said.

- Qatar contains gas hub fires -

Qatari civil defence teams have contained fires that erupted at a major gas facility following an Iranian attack, the interior ministry said.