Iran confirms death of top security official Ali Larijani

Edited by Peter Wells in New York, Sarah Provan in Hong Kong and Kieran CashThe US strikes Iran overnight while Israel attacks Lebanon and Iran hits US targets in IraqThe US national counterterrorism chief has resigned in protest at the war with Iran. Joe Kent said in his resignation letter that he “cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people”.Donald Trump said the US did not need help from Nato, Australia, Japan or South Korea, as the president lashed out at Washington’s traditional partners for not agreeing to join his war against Iran.Iran confirmed the death of its top security official, Ali Larijani, who was killed by Israeli strikes on Tuesday.Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government have agreed to resume oil exports to Turkey’s strategic Ceyhan energy hub on the Mediterranean.Brent prices fell 0.2 per cent to trade around $103.17 a barrel. Gold also dipped slightly to about $5,000 a troy ounce. Attacks by Iraqi Shia militias aligned with Tehran continued, with the US embassy in Baghdad targeted by multiple drones and rockets, two security officials said.Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.William Sandlund in San FranciscoChinese stocks dropped in early trading and the renminbi weakened slightly against the dollar. Mainland China’s benchmark CSI 300 index shed 0.3 per cent, while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng index edged down 0.1 per cent. The offshore renminbi weakened 0.1 per cent against the dollar to Rmb6.88. Brent oil fell 1 per cent to $102.4 a barrel.Other markets in Asia rebounded due to the strong performance of stocks that supply the artificial intelligence boom. Taiwan’s Taiex gained 1.4 per cent, while South Korea and Japan’s benchmark stock indices rose 3.8 per cent and 2.2 per cent, respectively.William Sandlund in San FranciscoSouth Korean and Japanese stocks rose in early trading on Wednesday as investors shrugged off oil prices above $100 a barrel and returned to AI-related companies in the two markets. South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index gained 2.7 per cent in early trading with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix rising 4.7 per cent and 3.6 per cent, respectively. In Japan the Topix gained 1.1 per cent, also led higher by businesses with exposure to AI demand. Disco Corporation and Kioxia climbed 2.9 per cent and 4.7 per cent, respectively. Brent prices fell 0.2 per cent to trade around $103.17 a barrel. Gold also dipped slightly to about $5,000 a troy ounce. The dollar was flat against a basket of key trading partners as were yields on 10-year US Treasuries at 4.21 per cent.Raya Jalabi in BeirutThe US embassy in Baghdad was targeted by projectiles on Tuesday, marking the second time in less than 24 hours that the compound came under attack.A journalist with the Associated Press saw a large fire that appeared to be engulfing a structure in the compound and videos on social media showed the embassy’s air defences engaged.There was no immediate statement from the embassy.Iraqi militias had fired at the embassy on Tuesday morning.Raya Jalabi in BeirutIraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government have agreed to resume oil exports to Turkey’s strategic Ceyhan energy hub on the Mediterranean.KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said in a post on X that the decision had been made to allow oil to flow through the Kurdistan pipeline “given the extraordinary circumstances facing the country”.Iraq’s oil minister said exports would resume on Wednesday.Baghdad has been seeking to use the pipeline as an alternative route for crude flows disrupted by the Iran conflict and accused Iraq’s Kurdish authorities of refusing to allow crude exports through the pipeline. The KRG rejected the accusation and said Baghdad had failed to address security and economic challenges facing the sector.Oil production in Iraq has plunged to around 1.5mn barrels a day as the regional war has shut off the Strait of Hormuz. The pipeline previously averaged 450,000 b/d but was shut down for much of the past three years, owing to a dispute between Baghdad and the KRG, and has only intermittently resumed flows.FT reportersIran has confirmed the death of its top security official, Ali Larijani, who was killed by Israeli strikes on Tuesday.Larijani is the most senior Iranian official to have been killed after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

President Masoud Pezeshkian said Larijani was a “valuable figure” who was important to the Islamic republic and said his death was “bitter and unfortunate”. He vowed revenge for the killing.Iranian state media said Larijani’s funeral would take place on Wednesday at 1.30pm in Tehran alongside the funerals of those killed by the US on the Dena ship earlier this month.Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.Read more hereVerity Ratcliffe in LondonOil buyers are racing to replace supplies from the Gulf, causing price leaps for grades around the world from Norway to Kazakhstan and driving crude traded in Oman to a record of more than $150 a barrel.The closure of the Strait of Hormuz because of the war in the Middle East has severed about a fifth of the world’s oil production from global markets, boosting demand for grades of crude with similar characteristics to those produced in the Gulf.The growing disruption to supplies has driven a number of regional price benchmarks to all-time highs even as global marker Brent has fallen back to just above $100 a barrel after jumping to nearly $120 in the early stages of the Iran war.Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.Read more herePeter Wells in New YorkOil prices ended higher on Tuesday as Iran intensified its attacks on energy infrastructure across the Gulf, while US stocks edged up.Brent crude, the international benchmark, settled 3.2 per cent higher at $103.42 a barrel.

West Texas Intermediate, the US marker, climbed 2.9 per cent to $96.21.Tuesday marks the fourth session in a row that Brent, which is trading around its highest level since August 2022, has closed above $100.On Wall Street, the S&P 500 climbed one-quarter of 1 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.5 per cent.Comments have not been enabled for this article.