Israel has claimed that Iran’s top national security official, Ali Larijani, has been killed in overnight airstrikes.
However, there’s no confirmation from Iranian officials regarding the news.
The development, if true, can be the most significant blow to Iran’s leadership since the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Israeli Defence Minister Katz told reporters on Tuesday, March 17, that the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council was “eliminated” along with Gholam Reza Soleimani, the head of the Basij paramilitary force.
The reported death of Ali Larijani is not just the loss of another high-ranked officer; it is the removal of the singular figure holding together a fractured Iranian regime.
A member of the powerful political dynasty that is sometimes referred to as the “Iranian Kennedys,” the 67-year-old Larijani was far from an ordinary politician.
The veteran of the Iran-Iraq war, a former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, and holder of a PhD in Western philosophy, with books on the subject of Kant written by him, was the ultimate insider.
After the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Larijani became the de facto leader of Iran.
Being the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, he was the regime’s “mastermind,” leveraging close ties to the IRGC and senior clerics to consolidate power.
