Israel has claimed that Iran’s top national security official, Ali Larijani, was killed in overnight airstrikes.
However, there is no confirmation from Iranian officials about the news.
This development, if true, may be the most significant blow to Iran’s leadership since the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Israeli Defense 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-ranking officer; it is the removal of the singular figure holding together a fractured Iranian regime.
A member of the powerful political dynasty sometimes referred to as the “Iranian Kennedys,” Larijani, 67, was far from an ordinary politician.
The veteran of the Iran-Iraq war, former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and holder of a doctorate in Western philosophy, with books on the subject of Kant written by him, was the ultimate expert.
After the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Larijani became the de facto leader of Iran.
As secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, he was the “mastermind” of the regime, leveraging close ties with the IRGC and high-ranking clerics to consolidate power.
