Israel and the United States launched widespread daylight airstrikes across Iran on March 17, hitting military targets in Tehran and southern coastal cities while issuing urgent evacuation orders for southern Tehran neighborhoods. During the bombardment, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu officially confirmed the assassinations of senior Iranian official Ali Larijani and Basij Commander Gholamreza Soleimani in the Iranian capital. Concurrently, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf confirmed the recent deaths of Iran's top leadership, including the Supreme Leader, declared the Strait of Hormuz closed to shipping, and explicitly rejected any ceasefire proposals. In retaliation, Iran fired extensive waves of ballistic missiles and drones at Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and U.S. military installations across Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, resulting in regional infrastructure fires and civilian casualties. As the conflict escalated internationally, the U.S. deployed six B-2 stealth bombers to Diego Garcia, President Donald Trump rebuked NATO allies for refusing to join the military coalition, and U.S. Counterterrorism Chief Joe Kent reportedly resigned in protest of the war.