New Delhi, Updated At : 06:37 AM Apr 07, 2026 IST
Israel on Monday launched a blistering attack on Iran’s energy infrastructure at the South Pars gas field and, in a separate strike, killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence chief Majid Khademi.
Confirming Khademi was targeted, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said: “The Revolutionary Guards are shooting at civilians, and we are eliminating the terrorist leaders.”
Khademi was among 25 people killed in a wave of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran on Monday. Iran also fired drones and missiles at targets in the Gulf and at Israel. At least two people were killed in Haifa after an Iranian missile struck an apartment late Sunday.
Several senior Iranian security officials have been killed in US-Israeli strikes since the war began, including security chief Ali Larijani and IRGC commander-in-chief Mohammad Pakpour.
Iran’s Fars news agency reported a series of blasts near a refinery in the coastal town of Asaluyeh, the heart of Iran’s gas industry. The area is part of the South Pars natural gas field, the world’s largest known gas reserve, providing about 70 percent of Iran’s total gas supply. Katz said they targeted “the largest petrochemical facility in Iran… responsible for about 50 percent of the country’s petrochemical production.”
Israel had already struck another facility in the same area in mid-March; Iran responded to that strike by attacking a Qatari gas facility and causing significant damage. US President Donald Trump said he was not informed about the earlier strike and that Israel had promised to refrain from striking sensitive South Pars facilities.
The US Central Command posted images of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), which provide deep-strike capability and have played a major role in Operation Epic Fury.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), based on independent analysis of new satellite imagery and detailed site knowledge, confirmed recent military impacts close to Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, including one just 75 metres from the site perimeter; the plant itself was not damaged. The head of Iran’s nuclear energy authority criticised the IAEA for what he saw as a failure to act on repeated strikes near the plant.
