Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on Tuesday that Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, was “eliminated” Monday night, CNN reports.

Larijani is among Iran’s most powerful civilian officials and was close to slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

New York Times: “The Israeli military said separately on Tuesday that it had killed Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Basij, the powerful Iranian plainclothes militia, dealing another blow to Iran’s top leadership.”

“Despite more than two weeks of relentless airstrikes, U.S. intelligence assessments say, Iran’s regime likely will remain in place for now, weakened but more hard-line, with the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps security forces exerting greater control,” the Washington Post reports.

“President Trump is pressuring allies to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz and relieve pressure on the global economy. So far, most of them aren’t biting,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Germany has rejected taking part, while Japan and Australia have indicated they are unlikely to send vessels to help. Britain and France said they are assessing possible action but haven’t committed to doing anything before fighting halts. All are close U.S. allies.”

CNN: Trump criticizes allies who rebuffed his calls to help secure Strait of Hormuz.

President Trump says Cuba is on the brink of collapse and the U.S. may be “taking” the island nation, Politico reports.

Said Trump: “I think Cuba sees the end. All my life I’ve been hearing about the United States and Cuba. When will the United States do it? I do believe I’ll be the honor of — having the honor of taking Cuba.”

“President Trump said he had sought to postpone a planned summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, saying he wanted to be in the U.S. as the war continues. Trump had been expected to travel to Beijing March 31 to April 2,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Punchbowl News: “The speaker inched ever closer to saying that he’ll try to put a large-scale Iran war funding bill in a reconciliation package. Johnson detailed the outlines for a path to approve tens or hundreds of billions of dollars to fund the Pentagon and the U.S. war in the Middle East on a party-line vote.”

“Johnson’s comments reflect the reality that reconciliation may be the only viable path for Republicans to pass an Iran war package, given staunch Democratic opposition.”

After spending the weekend demanding that key allies help open the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump told reporters today that the U.S. doesn’t need the assistance.

Said Trump: “I don’t do a hard sell on them because my attitude is we don’t need anybody. We’re the strongest nation in the world. We have the strongest military by far in the world. We don’t need them.”

Several U.S. allies — including Germany, Spain and Italy — rebuffed Donald Trump’s call on Monday to send warships to escort shipping through the Strait of ​Hormuz, drawing criticism from the U.S. president, who accused Western partners of ingratitude after decades of support, Reuters reports.

Said Trump: “Some are very enthusiastic about it, and some aren’t. Some are countries that we’ve helped for many, many years. We’ve protected them from horrible outside sources, and they weren’t ​that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm matters to me.”