Iranian state media confirmed that the country’s de facto leader was killed in an airstrike on Tuesday.
“Ali Larijani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, has been martyred,” the Fars News Agency wrote on X.
Larijani, 67, was widely seen as the Islamic Republic’s second-in-command, with the official serving as the de facto ruler after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed on Feb. 28.
The Israeli Ministry of Defense announced Larijani’s death early Tuesday following an overnight strike in Tehran that also killed Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, head of the Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force
“Larijani and the Basij commander were eliminated last night,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said, “and have joined [Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei, the head of the annihilation program, along with all those eliminated from the axis of evil in the depths of hell.”
Iranian state media did not immediately confirm the death and had instead published a handwritten note by Larijani commemorating sailors killed in a US attack whose funeral was expected on Tuesday.
The latest statement from Iranian media confirms the latest killing of Iran’s top leaders since the war with the US and Israel began.
Along with Khamenei and Laijani, the war has claimed Ali Shamkhani, the head of Iran’s National Defense Council and Mohammad Pakpour, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Larijani’s death comes after he had threatened President Trump last week, telling the president, “Watch out for yourself — lest you be eliminated.” Larijani was among the 10 Islamic Republic officials who had a $10 million bounty placed on their heads Friday by the State Department.
