Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on March 17 that Iran's powerful national security chief Ali Larijani was "eliminated last night,” along with the commander of Tehran's Basij paramilitary force.
The killing of Larijani, if confirmed by Tehran, would represent the highest-profile assassination since the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei and other leaders during the wave of U.S.-Israeli strikes that started the war on Febr. 28.
Katz said that he had been informed by Israel's military chief that Larijani and the head of Iran's Basij paramilitary force Gholamreza Soleimani "were eliminated last night.”
He said the two leaders "have joined Khamenei, the head of the annihilation program, along with all those eliminated from the axis of evil in the depths of hell.”
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a photo of the premier on the phone, captioned: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders the elimination of senior figures in the Iranian regime."
Israel's military had announced earlier it had killed Basij chief Soleimani "in a precise strike in Tehran
The Basij, a volunteer force under Iran's Revolutionary Guards, "led the main repression operations" by the authorities during recent mass protests in Iran, the Israeli army said.
Larijani hails from one of Iran’s most famous political families. A former parliamentary speaker and senior policy adviser, he was appointed to advise the late Khamenei on strategy in nuclear talks with the Trump administration.
He also served as the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, its top security body.
Iran was rocked by unprecedented protests against the clerical establishment that peaked in January.
They were met with a crackdown in which, according to rights groups, thousands of people were killed and tens of thousands arrested.
The killing of Larijani again strips Iran of another of its longtime leaders within its theocracy as Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, tries to prosecute the war against Israel and the United States.
Khamenei, 56, himself was reportedly wounded in the war, with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claiming he had been “likely disfigured,” without offering evidence.
