Israel: 2 Top Iranian Officials Killed in Airstrikes

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/iran-iraq-us/2026/03/17/id/1249735/

Tuesday, 17 March 2026 08:45 AM EDT

Israel said Tuesday it killed two senior Iranian security officials in overnight strikes in a major blow to the country’s leadership. Tehran defiantly fired new salvos of missiles and drones at its Gulf Arab neighbors and Israel in a war that showed no signs of abating.

Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force, were “eliminated last night," Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said.

Following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an airstrike on the first day of the war, Larijani was considered one of the most powerful figures in the country.

Both men were key to Iran’s violent crackdown on protests in January that challenged the theocracy’s 47-year rule. Iranian state media did not immediately confirm either death.

The killings would strip Iran of important leaders as the Islamic Republic faces its greatest test in recent decades in its war with the United States and Israel.

With concerns growing about a global energy crisis, Iran fired new attacks at several of its Gulf Arab neighbors and oil infrastructure throughout the region. Dubai, a major transit hub for international travel, briefly shut its airspace, the second disruption to flights in the city in as many days.

An Iranian official defiantly said Tehran had no intention of relinquishing its tight grip on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for oil.

The Israeli military also said it had begun a “wide-scale wave of strikes” across Iran’s capital and was stepping up strikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon.

Larijani hails from one of Iran’s most famous political families. A former parliamentary speaker and senior policy adviser, he was appointed to advise the late Khamenei on strategy in nuclear talks with the Trump administration.

Larijani was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in January as Tehran violently suppressed nationwide protests. It identified him as being “responsible for coordinating the response to the protests on behalf of the supreme leader of Iran.”

Soleimani has also been sanctioned by the U.S., as well as the European Union and other nations over his role in helping suppress dissent for years through the Basij.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public since succeeding his father, who was killed in the opening day of the war. Israel suspects Khamenei was wounded.

Iran Security Chief Who Threatened Trump Killed in Israeli Strike

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/iran-security-chief-ali-larijani/2026/03/17/id/1249738/

Tuesday, 17 March 2026 08:04 AM EDT

Ali Larijani, Iran's top national security official who threatened President Donald Trump's life after the U.S.-Israeli strikes began, has been killed.

The high-profile elimination marks one of the most significant blows to Tehran's leadership since the war erupted on Feb. 28, with Israeli officials confirming that Larijani was targeted and killed in a precision strike.

Israel Defense Minister Israel Katz announced the development, calling it a major step in dismantling what he described as Iran's "axis of evil."

According to multiple reports, including from The Jerusalem Post and The Times of Israel, Larijani, who served as secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, was killed alongside other senior regime figures.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also confirmed the deaths of Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) Basij paramilitary force, and his deputy. Additional strikes reportedly eliminated key IRGC aerospace leadership and much of the Basij command structure.

The Associated Press reported that the strikes came as part of a broader Israeli campaign targeting Iran's military and security apparatus, which has been central to both internal repression and regional aggression.

The Basij, in particular, has long been accused of violently suppressing protests and dissent within Iran.

Larijani had emerged as one of the regime's most prominent voices in recent weeks, especially following the reported killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei earlier in the conflict.

Though Mojtaba Khamenei was nominally installed as successor, intelligence assessments suggested he was severely weakened, leaving Larijani to play a leading operational role.

His death could further destabilize an already fractured regime. Israeli and Western analysts have noted that much of Iran's senior leadership has been decimated in recent strikes, creating a vacuum that lesser-known figures are struggling to fill.

Larijani had drawn particular attention in the United States after issuing direct threats against Trump.

In remarks highlighted by Axios, Larijani warned Trump to "beware lest you be the one who disappears," escalating tensions as the president vowed to respond forcefully to any Iranian attempt to disrupt global oil supplies.

Trump, who has taken a hardline stance against Tehran, has repeatedly warned Iran against targeting the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global energy choke point.

He has also signaled willingness to escalate military action if Iran continues its attacks on regional allies and shipping lanes.

Despite the losses, Iran has continued launching missile and drone attacks across the region, targeting Israel and Gulf Arab states.

These strikes have disrupted air travel, damaged infrastructure, and heightened fears of a broader energy crisis as oil prices surge.

Still, the targeted killing of Larijani underscores the effectiveness of the joint U.S.-Israeli campaign in crippling Iran's command structure.

Supporters of the strategy argue it sends a clear message that threats against the United States and its allies will be met with decisive force.

With Tehran's leadership in disarray and pressure mounting on multiple fronts, the coming days could prove decisive in shaping the trajectory of the conflict and the future of Iran's ruling regime.

Moar fraud monies heading out the door!

Court Upholds Block on Trump Admin's Sweeping Funding Freeze

https://www.newsmax.com/politics/donald-trump-omb-dei/2026/03/16/id/1249721/

Monday, 16 March 2026 08:46 PM EDT

A federal appeals court on Monday largely upheld a ruling that blocked a "sweeping and unprecedented" freeze on trillions of dollars in government financial assistance that President Donald Trump's administration instituted early last year.

A three-judge panel of the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Democrat attorneys general from 22 states and the District of Columbia in finding that the White House's budget office had directed federal agencies to implement a categorical freeze on funding that was likely improper.

Chief U.S. Circuit Judge David Barron said the Office of Management and Budget "directed the agency defendants to freeze such funds without considering an obvious aspect of the problem — namely, the reliance interests of the recipients of the obligated federal funds that were to be frozen."

The judge, who like the other panel members was appointed by a Democrat president, pointed to a lower-court judge's conclusion that the agencies failed in carrying out OMB's directive to assess whether such payments were legally required or appropriate on a case-by-case basis.

While the appeals court largely upheld Rhode Island-based U.S. District Judge John McConnell's March 2025 injunction blocking the policy, it overturned part of it to the extent it required agencies to make payments to the states that sued.

It did so citing a ruling last year by the U.S. Supreme Court in a different Trump-era case that indicated lawsuits seeking to recover money owed by the government under contracts and grants must be pursued in a different, specialist court.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

The state attorneys general sued after the OMB in January 2025, shortly after Trump returned to the White House, issued a memo directing federal agencies to temporarily pause spending on federal financial assistance programs.

That memo said the freeze was necessary while the administration reviewed grants and loans to ensure they are aligned with Trump's executive orders, including ones ending diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and directing a pause on spending on projects seeking to combat climate change.

The freeze implicated up to $3 trillion in federal funding.

OMB later withdrew that memo after it became the subject of two lawsuits, including the one before McConnell. But the states argued the memo's withdrawal did not mean the end of the policy itself.

>>24391710

Leave your old country's bullshit in that old country, and maybe we will.

>>24391727

SECONDED!