Iran has attacked a UAE base housing British and Australian troops after Israel fired its intelligence minister.
At 9.15am AEDT on Wednesday a missile struck Al Minhad Air Base, which is home to a permanent British military facility.
It is believed that the attack caused no British casualties or damage to British equipment or facilities.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the projectile caused “minor damage” due to a small fire that broke out after the attack.
More than 100 Australian military personnel are currently deployed in Al Minhad, but no one was injured.
It comes after Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz announced the killing of Ismail Khatib, warning that Iran should expect “significant surprises”.
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The US Treasury sanctioned Khatib in 2022, after Iran’s intelligence ministry was involved in cyber-enabled activities against the United States and its allies.
Under Khatib’s leadership, Iran’s intelligence ministry cracked down on a range of human rights defenders, from women’s rights activists to journalists and filmmakers, Treasury said at the time.
As the war is in its third week, Katz said he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have “authorized the IDF to eliminate any senior Iranian individual.”
He further said that they would do so “without the need for additional approval”.
It comes just days after Israel approved the assassination of security chief Ali Larijani, considered Tehran’s most powerful man.
Following the death of Ali Khamenei, 67-year-old Larijani is understood to have taken command of military operations and become Iran’s de facto leader.
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Katz said Larijani has joined other Iranian leaders “in the depths of hell.”
And in another major blow to Israeli and US operations, the IDF said a separate attack killed Gholamreza Soleimani, a 62-year-old Basij paramilitary force commander.
Katz said: “Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Larijani and the head of Iran’s central repression apparatus Basij (Suleimani) were removed last night.
“(They) joined the depths of hell with Khamenei, the head of the destruction program, and all the deposed members of the axis of evil.”
Israeli media reported that the Iranian secretary of the Supreme National Security Council was attacked while he was in a secret apartment with his son.
Larijani, a former nuclear negotiator and close aide of slain Ayatollah Khamenei, was last seen attending Quds Day rallies in Tehran on Friday, taking a jibe at Donald Trump.
As Israeli missiles rained down behind the demonstrations, he told local media: “These attacks are out of fear, out of desperation.
“Those with power will not bomb demonstrations. It is clear that this has failed.”
The security chief declared that Trump failed to understand the “resolve” of the people as he marched with other top leaders, including Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian.
Larijani was believed to be Iran’s wartime leader and the de facto leader of power following the assassination of Khamenei Snr – despite 56-year-old Mojtaba being named the new Ayatollah.
The security chief also masterminded bloody protests in January that left thousands dead.
Tehran has appeared to deny claims that the top security chief has been killed.
