India, June 17 -- Indian shares were a tad lower on Tuesday as tensions in the Middle East continued between Israel and Iran.

Iran said it is preparing for what it calls the largest and most intense missile attack in history on Israeli soil.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would not escalate hostilities but would "end the conflict".

The benchmark 30-share BSE Sensex slid 260 points, or 0.3 percent, to 81,535 in early trade while the broader NSE Nifty index was down 84 points, or 0.3 percent, at 24,861.

Sun Pharma lost nearly 2 percent while HDFC Bank, Bajaj FinServ, Bajaj Finance, Titan Company, UltraTech Cement, IndusInd Bank and Tata Motors all fell around perce...