FILE - Commander of Iran's Basij paramilitary force, Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, gives a press conference in Tehran, Iran, Nov. 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel said Tuesday it killed two senior Iranian security officials in overnight strikes in a major blow to the country’s leadership. Iran, which so far confirmed one killing, fired salvos of missiles and drones at its Gulf Arab neighbors and Israel in a war that showed no signs of abating.

Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force, were “eliminated last night,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said. Larijani was considered one of the most powerful figures in the country since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an airstrike on the first day of the war.

The Iranian judiciary’s news agency, Mizan, confirmed the killing of Soleimani. Iran has not confirmed or denied the reported killing of Larijani.

Both men were key to Iran’s violent crackdown on protests in January that challenged the theocracy’s 47-year rule. The killings would strip Iran of important leaders during a war that presents that greatest test for the Islamic Republic in recent decades.

With concerns growing about a global energy crisis, Iran launched fresh attacks against several of its Gulf Arab neighbors and oil infrastructure throughout the region. Dubai, a major transit hub for international travel, briefly shut its airspace, the second disruption to flights in the city in as many days. An Iranian official said Tehran had no intention of relinquishing its tight grip on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for oil.

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump said NATO and most other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the strait.

The Israeli military said it had begun a “wide-scale wave of strikes” across Iran’s capital and was stepping up strikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

Israel says it has killed two top Iranian officials

Larijani, a former parliamentary speaker and senior policy adviser, advised the late Khamenei on strategy in nuclear talks with the Trump administration. He was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in January for his role in “coordinating” Iran’s violent suppression nationwide protests.

Soleimani was also sanctioned by the U.S., as well as by the European Union and other nations, over his role in helping suppress dissent for years through the Basij.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the killings were aimed at weakening Iran’s government. “We are undermining this regime to give the Iranian people the opportunity to remove it,” he said.

There have been no signs of anti-government protests since the war began, as many Iranians are sheltering from the American and Israeli strikes.

The reported killings of Larijani and Soleimani came on the eve of “Chaharshanbe Souri,” or the Festival of Fire, shortly before the Persian new year. Authorities have sent threatening text messages urging the public not to celebrate the festival, warning that the normally rowdy celebrations could be used by “rioters.”

State media aired footage Tuesday of pro-government demonstrations, including images of some men in plainclothes branding assault rifles and shotguns on the back of motorcycles — a sign of the government wanting to prevent renewed protests against the theocracy.

State television later showed crowds of women wrapped in black and older men waving flags and portraits of the killed former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.