Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) secretary-general Ali Larijani was killed in U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, Iranian authorities confirmed.
On the 18th (local time), Reuters, citing Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency, reported that Larijani died in U.S. and Israeli airstrikes. The SNSC also said in a statement on its Telegram channel that "Ali Larijani has been martyred." The strikes reportedly killed not only Larijani but also his son, an aide, and a bodyguard.
Israel Katz, Israel's Minister of National Defense, said the previous day that "Larijani was killed by an Israel Defense Forces airstrike and fell into the abyss of hell," adding that "Gholamreza Soleimani, the commander who led the Basij militia under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was also eliminated in a separate strike."
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian strongly condemned the United States and Israel in a statement. He said, "What awaits the terrorist criminals who stained their hands with the blood of oppressed yet brave martyrs on the sacred soil of Iran is harsh revenge."
Born in Iraq in 1958, Larijani began his career in public life as a journalist at Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). When the Iran-Iraq War broke out in 1981, he joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and rose to the rank of brigadier general, after which he served as Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, IRIB president, and national security adviser to Ali Khamenei. After losing the 2005 presidential election, he was appointed secretary-general of the Supreme National Security Council.
Larijani was known to have enjoyed deep trust from the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, former supreme leader of Iran, to the extent that Khamenei designated him as acting authority in the event of a vacancy. As the current supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared in public due to injury, Larijani continued public activities and said he would fight the United States and Israel to the end.