State Department tells Americans worldwide to 'exercise increased caution'

The head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, was killed in an overnight attack on Iran, along with the paramilitary leader Gholamreza Soleimani, the Israeli minister of defense said on Tuesday.

"Larijani and the Basij commander were eliminated last night and have joined Khamenei, the head of the annihilation program, along with all those eliminated from the axis of evil in the depths of hell," Israel Katz, the minister, said in a statement.

"The Prime Minister and I have instructed the IDF to continue pursuing the leadership of the terror and oppression regime in Iran, and to repeatedly cut off the head of the octopus and prevent it from regrowing," he said.

Larijani was an influential representative of Iran’s late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"The IDF continues to operate in Iran with great intensity, targeting regime assets, suppressing missile-launch capabilities, and destroying key strategic infrastructure across all domains, setting Iran back decades," Katz said.

-ABC News' Somayeh Malekian

The ministries of defense in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar reported Iranian aerial attacks early on Tuesday.

Saudi officials said in a series of updates that it had intercepted and destroyed more than a dozen drones, many of which were in the eastern region.

Debris falling from an intercepted missile caused a "minor" fire in an industrial area in Qatar, officials said, adding that no injuries had been reported.

Air defenses in the UAE were responding early on Tuesday to "incoming missile and drone threats from Iran," officials said.

"MOD asserts that the sounds heard are the result of the Air Defence Systems intercepting missiles and drones," the UAE said.

More Israel Defense Forces troops have been deployed in Lebanon, where Israel yesterday began a "limited" ground operation targeting what it described as Hezbollah "strongholds."

"Additional IDF troops have been deployed in Lebanon, continuing efforts to establish a forward defense posture in order to remove threats and create an additional layer of security for residents of northern Israel against Hezbollah’s threat," the IDF said on Tuesday.

A tanker was struck by an "unknown" projectile off the coast of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, early on Tuesday morning, according to U.K. Maritime Trade Operations, a marine tracker.

The ship, which was anchored at the time, was about 23 nautical miles off the coast, UKMTO said in a warning.

UKMTO said in an advisory late on Monday that the threat environment remained critical near the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route that Iran has threatened to attempt to close to most marine traffic.

"Since the start of the hostilities on 28 February, at least twenty maritime incidents involving commercial vessels and offshore infrastructure have been reported in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, and Gulf of Oman," UKMTO said in the advisory.