Iran Strikes Kill Two Near Tel Aviv; Israel Retaliates
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- Iran launched overnight missile strikes on areas near Tel Aviv using cluster warheads, killing two people and leaving widespread destruction across the targeted zone
- Israel struck back at Iran following the missile attack, producing a rapid back-and-forth exchange between the two countries
- Tehran publicly framed the attack as 'revenge' for the killing of senior official Ali Larijani, naming a specific trigger for the escalation
Why it matters: Iran's use of cluster munitions against areas near Tel Aviv — combined with its public naming of Larijani as the trigger — shows a willingness to escalate beyond border-region exchanges and to own the attack openly, with Israel responding in kind rather than absorbing the blow.