Israel says it has killed the Iranian national security chief, Ali Larijani, in overnight strikes.
According to The Guardian, if confirmed would make Larijani the most senior Iranian figure to die in the war since the supreme leader Ali Khamenei was killed on its first day.
Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, said on Tuesday, March 17, a separate strike killed the Basij paramilitary force commander, Gholamreza Soleimani, along with other senior Basij figures.
Iran has not yet confirmed Larijani death but if verified, his death would remove a pivotal figure from the regime’s political and security establishment at a moment of crisis.
Katz said on Tuesday, "Larijani and the Basij commander were eliminated overnight and joined the head of the annihilation programme, Khamenei, and all the eliminated members of the axis of evil, in the depths of hell."
Larijani had been seen as one of the more pragmatic faces of Iran’s establishment, who helped steer nuclear negotiations with the west.
Hours after US and Israeli strikes killed Khamenei, Larijani delivered a defiant message, warning that Iran would make its enemies “regret” their actions and promising a forceful response.
An Israeli official said a strike on Larijani had originally been planned for the previous night but was postponed at the last minute.
The official said that intelligence received on Monday afternoon indicated that Larijani was due to arrive at one of several apartments he used as a hideout. He was reportedly there with his son when the strike was carried out.
Another senior Israeli official said “there was no chance he survived this attack.”
The US had offered a reward of up to $10m for information on senior Iranian military and intelligence officials, including Larijani, as part of a list of 10 figures linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
