Israel claims Iran's national security chief Ali Larijani 'eliminated'

TEL AVIV: Israel said on Tuesday it had killed Iran's powerful national security chief, Ali Larijani, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling him the leader of "the gang of gangsters" that runs the Islamic republic.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Larijani was "eliminated last night", although this has not been confirmed by Iran. "This morning we eliminated Ali Larijani, the boss of the Revolutionary Guards, which is the gang of gangsters that actually runs Iran," Netanyahu said in a televised statement.

He said the overthrow of Iran's authorities by the people "will not happen all at once, it will not happen easily. But if we persist in this -- we will give them a chance to take their fate into their own hands."

If confirmed, Larijani's death would be a huge blow to Iran's ruling system more than two weeks into the war engulfing the Middle East, which has upended global markets and had consequences far beyond the region's confines.

It comes less than three weeks after US-Israeli strikes on February 28 killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader since 1989, triggering a regional war with global repercussions.

It also comes weeks after a massive popular movement against the Islamic republic was crushed by authorities, with rights groups reporting thousands killed in the crackdown.

Larijani, 68, has been described as a key pillar in the ruling system, close to the late ayatollah and central to the government's nuclear policy and strategic diplomacy over decades.

After the war broke out, he became even more powerful. While the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has not been seen in public since he was appointed to replace his slain father, Larijani walked with crowds at a pro-government rally last week in Tehran.

The reported assassination comes as strikes shook countries across the Middle East on Tuesday, from Gulf nations to Iraq, Lebanon and Iran.

An AFP reporter had earlier on Tuesday reported blasts in Tehran, after a night of heavy bombardment mixed with thunder and rain.

Targeting leaders

Shortly after Israel said it had killed him, Larijani's official social media profiles posted a handwritten note by him paying tribute to Iranian sailors killed when a US submarine sunk an Iranian frigate this month.

The note was not dated, nor did the post address the claim of his death.

Israel also said Tuesday it had killed Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij paramilitary force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, in a strike in Tehran.

And it said it had targeted Akram al-Ajouri, head of the military wing of the group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in a strike in Iran, though he was not confirmed dead.

Israel has since the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas pursued what analysts have described as a policy of decapitation, targeting the leaders of its enemies, including Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon, as well as top leaders in Gaza.

The whereabouts of Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is the subject of much speculation. US President Donald Trump said Monday that "we don't know... if he's dead or not".