Larijani spent the days before his death threatening to assassinate President Donald Trump
Israeli forces killed the Iranian regime’s security chief and de facto leader, Ali Larijani, in a Tuesday morning airstrike that has the potential to foment greater chaos within the Islamic Republic’s remaining leadership.
The IDF announced that Larijani was killed through “a precise strike” on his location near Tehran.
“His elimination adds to the elimination of dozens of senior commanders and leaders of the Iranian terror regime, who were eliminated by the IDF during Operation Roaring Lion, and constitutes a further blow to the Iranian regime’s abilities to manage and coordinate hostile activity against the State of Israel,” the IDF wrote in its statement.
After Ali Khamenei’s death, Larijani emerged as the country’s de facto leader, consolidating his power and overseeing combat operations against Israel and other Arab nations in the region. Along with his brother, Sadeq, Larijani waged outsized influence in the Iranian leadership and positioned himself as a successor after Khamenei’s death. He also served as secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, the body that orchestrated attacks on Israel and led efforts to violently suppress the Iranian people.
“During the most recent wave of protests against the Iranian terror regime, Larijani advanced violent enforcement measures and repression operations, and personally oversaw the massacre that was carried out against Iranian protestors,” the IDF said. “Larijani led the regime’s national-security coordination and directed its international activity, including engagement with members of the axis.”
Throughout the conflict, Larijani mocked the United States and promised fierce repercussions for the joint operations with Israel.
“America and the Zionist regime [Israel] have set the heart of the Iranian nation ablaze,” he wrote just 24 hours after Khamenei’s death. “We will burn their hearts. We will make the Zionist criminals and the shameless Americans regret their actions.”
In recent days, Larijani threatened to assassinate President Donald Trump and defiantly conducted an interview on the streets of Tehran during Quds Day, an annual anti-Israel celebration held during Ramadan.
“It’s clear they’re running out of steam,” Larijani said while parading alongside Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian and foreign minister Abbas Araghchi. “Trump’s problem is that he doesn’t understand that the Iranian nation is mature and determined.”
Israel eliminated Larijani just days after the State Department placed a $10 million dollar bounty on his head, prompting him to write, “I do not see death as anything but happiness, nor life with the oppressors as anything but torment.”
The IDF also announced that it took out Gholamreza Soleimani, commander of the Basij militia in Iran.
“The Basij forces are part of the armed apparatus of the Iranian terror regime,” the IDF said in a statement. “During internal protests in Iran, particularly in recent periods as demonstrations intensified, Basij forces under Soleimani’s command led the main repression operations, employing severe violence, widespread arrests, and the use of force against civilian demonstrators.”
“The elimination of Soleimani adds to that of dozens of senior commanders from the armed forces of the Iranian regime who have been eliminated during the operation, and constitutes an additional significant blow to the regime’s security command-and-control structures,” the statement continued.
Opposition news outlet Iran International reported that Israeli strikes also killed some 300 members of the Basij militia.
