When Israeli and US strikes killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the start of the Middle East war, Iran's security chief Ali Larijani briefly became even more powerful than he had been for decades.

Last June's 12-day Israeli air assault boosted the long-time insider's profile. And in January he was deeply implicated in the Islamic republic's brutal crackdown on anti-government protests.

March 17 (Reuters) - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has rejected proposals for reducing tensions or for a ceasefire with the United States that were conveyed to Tehran by two intermediary countries, a senior Iranian official said on Tuesday.

Khamenei's stance for revenge against the U.S. and Israel was “very tough and serious” in his first foreign policy session, the official said, without clarifying whether the leader attended the session in person.

Iran targeted oil and gas facilities across the Gulf on Wednesday after Israel killed the Islamic republic's intelligence chief, marking another blow to its leadership.

The death of Esmail Khatib followed that of security chief Ali Larijani, which Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei -- unseen since succeeding his slain father -- vowed to avenge.

The wave of targeted killings has wiped out many of Iran's senior leaders, though Washington's top intelligence official said the government remained in place, albeit degraded, after nearly three weeks of war.

By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA, March 17 (Reuters) - Civilians are paying a heavy price as the war in Lebanon continues to expand, driving death, injuries and displacement the United Nations said on Tuesday.

"Displacement is increasing incredibly quickly. Right now, hundreds of thousands of people left their homes. Many leaving with very little, just the clothes they were wearing," said the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator Imran Riza.

March 17 - More than 400 people were killed and 265 injured in an air strike by Pakistan on a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul, the Afghan Taliban government said on Tuesday, a charge Islamabad denied and said it had targeted a military camp and "terrorist infrastructure". Here is a timeline of the recent clashes between the South Asian neighbours who were close allies years earlier.

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JERUSALEM, March 17 (Reuters) - Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that Iran's security chief Ali Larijani had been killed in an Israeli strike.

There was no confirmation from Iran.

(Reporting by Mayaan Lubell, Writing by Ahmed Elimam, Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

BEIRUT, March 17 (Reuters) - Five Lebanese soldiers were wounded, two critically, in an Israeli air strike in the city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese army said on Tuesday, amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.

The soldiers, struck while travelling by car and motorcycle, were taken to hospital, it said in a post on X.

The strike comes amid intensifying Israeli attacks across Lebanon, which have killed more than 880 people and displaced over a million, according to Lebanese authorities.

GENEVA, March 17 (Reuters) - A U.N. inquiry has started investigating a fatal strike on a primary school on the first day of U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, one of its members told reporters on Tuesday.

The attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh School consisted of two missile strikes in quick succession that killed 168 children, mostly girls, Iranian officials said in Geneva on Monday.

March 17 (Reuters) - An air strike by Pakistan on Monday that the Afghan government says killed hundreds of civilians has led to an escalation in the conflict between the South Asian neighbours.

Here is a look at what happened.

WHERE WAS THE ATTACK?

The Afghan Taliban government says the Pakistani air strike targeted a drug rehabilitation hospital in the capital Kabul, killing at least 408 people and injuring 265 more.

Here are the latest developments Tuesday in the Middle East war:

- Ukrainian anti-drone experts -

Some 201 Ukrainian anti-drone military experts were in several Middle East countries to help defend against Iranian-designed drones, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

- US embassy struck -

The US embassy in Baghdad was the target of a drone and rocket attack, a security official said.

The strike sparked a fire on embassy grounds, the source said, while a witness reported seeing the fire from her balcony.

- Crowds gather in Iran -