Israel said on Tuesday that Ali Larijani, one of Iran’s top security figures, was killed in overnight air strikes. But Iranian authorities had not confirmed the claim at the time of the latest reporting. That left uncertainty about the fate of a veteran figure at the center of Tehran’s power structure.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military told him that Larijani and Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij militia, were killed in the strikes.
Earlier, Reuters reported that four Israeli officials said Larijani had been targeted, but it was not immediately clear whether he had been killed or wounded.
Iran did not immediately respond to Katz’s statement. Iranian state media instead published a handwritten note attributed to Larijani marking the funeral of Iranian sailors killed in an earlier US attack.
A quick question: What makes Iran Kharg Island so important to the US attack?
Larijani has long been a key figure in Iran’s political and security system. Reuters described him as a former nuclear negotiator and a close ally of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
AP reported that he had also served as secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and had been appointed to advise Khamenei on strategy in nuclear talks with the Trump administration. Reuters said he was last seen in public in Tehran on Friday during Quds Day rallies.
Do you know? Six teens winched from Mount Barney after night stranded on summit
If his death is confirmed, it would be one of the biggest losses for Iran’s leadership since Khamenei was killed on 28 February, the first day of the war launched by the United States and Israel.
The conflict has since grown, with Israeli strikes hitting targets in Tehran and Lebanon while Iran has fired missiles and drones at Israel and Gulf states. That has raised fears of a wider regional crisis and added pressure to energy markets.
For now, the most accurate description is that Israel says Larijani was killed, while Iran has yet to verify the claim. In a fast moving conflict with restricted communications and competing narratives, that distinction matters.
