Iran's supreme national security council has confirmed the death of its chief, Ali Larijani, after Israel said it had killed him in an airstrike. The council described him as a martyr, stating that his son and bodyguards also died in the attack. Larijani is the most senior Iranian figure to die since Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed on the first day of the war.
Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, said a separate strike killed Basij paramilitary force commander Gholamreza Soleimani and other senior Basij figures, a death later confirmed by Iranian state media. Katz said both men were eliminated overnight, joining Khamenei and others in the depths of hell. Former US President Donald Trump also hailed the reported death, referring to Larijani's role in suppressing protests.
Iran's army chief Amir Hatami threatened a decisive and regrettable retaliation for the killing. The Turkish foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, condemned the assassinations as illegal acts contrary to the laws of war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the elimination of senior Iranian regime officials.
Larijani had been seen on the streets of Tehran days earlier during the annual Quds day rally. He was appointed secretary of the supreme national security council in August after previous US-Israeli attacks on Iran. His death removes a pivotal figure at the heart of the regime's political and security establishment, confirming the prime role of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in Iranian politics.
The US-Israeli war on Iran is in its third week, with at least 2,000 people killed. The Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed, and US allies have rebuffed calls from Trump to help reopen the vital waterway through which about 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas flows.
