Iran's Supreme National Security Council confirmed that its secretary Ali Larijani has been killed in an attack, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported early Wednesday, said Xinhua. In a statement, the council said Larijani died early Tuesday alongside his son Morteza Larijani, deputy for security affairs at the council's secretariat Alireza Bayat, and several others, Tasnim reported. The council praised Larijani's long service to Iran's development and called for national unity in the face of external threats. On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel had killed Larijani in ongoing strikes on Iran. Meanwhile, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Tuesday confirmed the death of Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij volunteer force, in a U.S.-Israeli strike. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Washington is "not ready" to end the conflict with Iran, which is now entering its third week. "We're not ready to leave yet, but we'll be leaving in the near future," Trump told reporters at the White House. Asked whether the White House has a "day-after" plan for the conflict with Iran, Trump gave no details, repeating his claim that Iran has "been decimated from every standpoint" since the United States and Israel began large-scale attacks on Iran on Feb. 28. It would take Iran a decade to rebuild, he said. Trump told reporters that if he sends U.S. ground troops into Iran, he was not afraid it could turn into another Vietnam for the United States. Local analysts say if Washington plans to seize Kharg Island, Iran's main oil export hub, and target an underground facility in Isfahan believed to store much of its nuclear material, U.S. or Israeli ground operations would likely be required. Meanwhile, Sardar Mousavi, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' Aerospace Force, on Tuesday announced a "new phase of effective and heavy strikes across the region against the American-Zionist enemy," reported ANI, quoting Al Jazeera. "The backbone of arrogance will be broken in the streets and squares," Al Jazeera quoted Mousavi as saying. IRGC had announced earlier that it was carrying out an intense wave of attacks on US and Israeli positions throughout the region since dawn, using missiles as well as drones. Iran's IRGC said that it has been carrying out a new wave of "impact-oriented and targeted" attacks across the region since dawn (local time) as reported by Al Jazeera. In a statement reported by Iranian media, it said the operations were being carried out with "multiple warheads with solid and liquid fuel" as well as drones. Most US allies don't want to get involved in military operation: Trump U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday the United States has been informed by most of its NATO allies that they "don't want to get involved" in the military operation against Iran, adding that the United States does not need help from NATO allies or other countries, reported Xinhua. "We no longer 'need,' or desire, the NATO Countries' assistance -- WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "We have had such Military Success ... In fact, speaking as President of the United States of America, by far the Most Powerful Country Anywhere in the World, WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!" Trump said. Trump again criticized NATO for not helping the United States. "I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one way street -- We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need," Trump said. "We, as the United States, have to remember that," he told reporters at the White House. "I just think that it's not good for a partnership." "I think NATO is making a very foolish mistake," Trump said. "And I've long said that, you know, I wonder whether or not NATO would ever be there for us. So this was a great test, because we don't need them, but they should have been there." The NATO membership is "certainly something that we should think about," he said. One day earlier, while rebuking allies for their reluctance to join a White House-proposed Strait of Hormuz escort mission, Trump said he would soon announce "a couple" of countries that have offered their help. "Numerous countries have told me they're on the way," Trump said Monday, though he did not name any. Washington has intensified pressure on NATO members and European partners to join the mission, several European countries have rejected the proposal or expressed caution, citing concerns over potential military escalation, a lack of prior consultation, and differing strategic priorities. Drone attacks hit US embassy, military base in Baghdad Drone attacks targeted on Tuesday evening the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and the Victoria military base near the Baghdad International Airport, an Interior Ministry source said. In one attack, three booby-trapped drones targeted the U.S. embassy, and its defense system shot down two, while the third landed within the compound, causing a fire with no immediate reports of casualties, the source said. Meanwhile, two booby-trapped drones targeted the Victoria military base at Baghdad International Airport, and defense systems shot them down at the perimeter of the complex, the source said. Sirens were heard inside the complex during the assault, with no immediate report on casualties, the source added. The U.S. embassy is located in the Green Zone in central Baghdad, which houses Iraqi government buildings, the parliament, and several foreign missions. The U.S. embassy, a frequent target of rocket and drone attacks in recent days, saw fires in its compound after an attack early Tuesday. The attacks came amid heightened tensions following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran starting Feb. 28, to which Iran and its regional proxies responded with attacks on Israeli and U.S. interests across the Middle East. US Counterterrorism Center Director resigns over Iran war Joe Kent, director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, announced on social media Tuesday that he has decided to resign from his position, noting that he "cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran." "Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby," Kent wrote in a post on X. In his letter to President Donald Trump, Kent said that early in this administration, high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media "deployed a misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your America First platform and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran." Kent said that he cannot support sending the next generation off to "fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people nor justifies the cost of American lives." Since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, at least 13 American service members have been killed. Ten others have been seriously wounded and about 200 injured, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal on Friday. The resignation of a top U.S. counterterrorism official signals mounting pressure on the Trump administration over the Iran war, amid intensifying criticism from Democratic lawmakers, business leaders, and even segments of his own support base. "Donald Trump created a mess in the Middle East, and he clearly has no plan for how to end it," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, wrote on X Monday. According to a recent poll from Quinnipiac University, 53 percent of voters oppose the U.S. military action against Iran, while 40 percent support it. There is a high level of partisan division: Some 89 percent of Democrats and 60 percent of Independents oppose the U.S. military action against Iran, while 85 percent of Republicans support it. Despite overall strong Republican support, Trump's actions are facing growing skepticism and criticism from some Republicans, even triggering a backlash among some supporters in the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement. Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, once a vocal Trump supporter who in recent months broke with the president and resigned from her post in January, said in a post on X after the war broke out that "War with Iran is AMERICA LAST and we voted against it." Conservative podcaster Tucker Carlson, who has millions of followers and is highly influential among Trump's MAGA base, has also recently come out strongly against the war. 1 killed in Israeli airstrike near Beirut airport; 8 killed in S. Lebanon One person was killed on Tuesday in an Israeli airstrike targeting the airport road in Beirut, Lebanon's Health Ministry said. In a statement, the Emergency Operations Center of the Ministry of Public Health said nine others were wounded in the strike. Mohammad Aziz, head of Lebanon's Civil Aviation Authority, said Beirut airport is operating normally and that the road leading to it remains open. Aziz noted that the latest Israeli airstrike targeted the old airport road, not the main access route. In earlier strikes on Tuesday, at least eight people, including three Lebanese army members, were killed and several others wounded as Israel targeted multiple towns and villages across southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) and official sources. In the southern town of Aaitit in the Tyre district, Israeli warplanes carried out three consecutive airstrikes within less than half an hour. Also on Tuesday, Israeli forces launched a new wave of attacks on Beirut's southern suburbs, striking the Laylaki area, according to local media reports. Meanwhile, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun held talks with French Ambassador to Lebanon Herve Magro on the latest developments in Lebanon and the region, including ongoing French efforts to reach solutions to halt the continued escalation. Aoun also received Finnish Ambassador Anne Meskanen, who reaffirmed her country's support for Lebanon under the current difficult circumstances, including contributions to aid for those displaced by the Israeli attacks. Hezbollah announced the launch of rockets from Lebanon toward Israel on March 2 for the first time since a ceasefire was declared on Nov. 27, 2024. Israel subsequently launched a military campaign against the group, involving intensive airstrikes on several areas in southern and eastern Lebanon, in addition to Beirut's southern suburbs. Iran, allied groups maintain large missile, drone stockpiles The strategic stockpiles of missiles and drones within Iran and the Axis of Resistance remain highly abundant and sustainable, Abdul Qader al-Karbalaei, the military deputy of the Iraqi armed faction al-Nujaba Movement, said Tuesday. In a statement issued by the pro-Iranian armed group, al-Karbalaei said that the production of these weapons does not rely on "large factories or huge facilities," but rather occurs in "simple workshops with fast, low-cost production lines." The statement came amid heightened tensions following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran starting Feb. 28, to which Iran and its regional allied groups responded with attacks on Israeli and U.S. interests across the Middle East. Canada rules out joining military operations against Iran Canada has no intention of joining the military operations against Iran, Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand said Tuesday. In an interview with Bloomberg, Anand clarified Canada's position regarding recent regional escalations. "Canada was not consulted prior to the offensive operation," Anand was quoted as saying, adding that Canada has not participated in the military action and "has no intention of participating" in it. On Feb. 28, the United States and Israel launched joint raids on Iran's capital of Tehran and other cities. Iran responded with missile and drone attacks targeting Israeli and U.S. assets and bases across the region. Multiple European nations and the European Union (EU) on Monday voiced reluctance or outright opposition to U.S. President Donald Trump's call for a military mission to ensure safe shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which about 20 percent of the world's oil passes.