Iran’s terror chief ‘despatched to depths of hell’ after being ‘eradicated’ in airstrike
Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s national security council and de facto leader, was ‘eliminated’ in massive blow to the Middle East nation
Iran has been hit over the past few days
Iran’s terror chief was despatched to the ‘depths of hell’ when he was killed in an airstrike, according to Israeli military chiefs.
Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s national security council and de facto leader, was ‘eliminated’ in the most significant blow to the Islamic Republic’s leadership since the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Israel Defense Forces – aka IDF – said. It bombed security headquarters in Iran’s capital Tehran including those belonging to the state’s intelligence ministry and its Basij paramilitary force.
Iran has not confirmed Larijani’s death. In an apparent bid to show he was alive a handwritten tribute to Iranian ‘martyrs’ was posted on his Twitter account hours after the attack.
But Israel Katz, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s defence minister, said Larijani had been killed along with Gholamreza Soleimani, the commander of the Basij paramilitary group. “Larijani and the Basij commander were eliminated overnight and joined the head of the annihilation programme, Khamenei, and all the eliminated members of the axis of evil, in the depths of hell,” Katz said.
The IDF later announced Larijani’s death, describing him as ‘the effective leader of the Iranian terror regime’. Military officials said it was a ‘significant blow’ to Iran as Larijani had been ‘calling the shots’ despite the appointment of Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba as his successor to the role of supreme leader.
Mojtaba has not been seen in public since his dad was killed on the opening day of the war. Larijani was filmed walking defiantly among crowds during a Tehran march on Friday.
He was spotted alongside president Masoud Pezeshkian at the annual Quds Day rally as US and Israeli bombs struck buildings along their route. Larijani spent years calculating how to keep the Islamic Republic alive if its leadership were decapitated. Senior officials said he was ‘officially running everything’.
Pezeshkian served as a public face to potentially take the blame for failures. Ali Khamenei trusted Larijani – an adviser, diplomat and scholar for 30 years – more than anyone in the regime.
The Ayatollah assigned him to oversee succession planning and crisis management. He was viewed as a leading contender to steer the country through diplomatic talks toward peace and helped stabilise the regime following Khamenei’s death.
An IDF official said Larijani had triggered attacks against Israel and Iran’s neighbours after the start of the war last month. His death would be a blow to the regime’s war machine and ability to suppress its own people.
Mr Netanyahu had not commented but his office posted a picture of him on the phone ordering ‘the elimination of senior Iranian regime officials’. More than 50 Iranian leaders have been killed since the war began.
Leaked audio revealed Mojtaba only escaped his father’s fate when he nipped out for a walk in the garden as Blue Sparrow ballistic missiles hit his dad’s compound. Iranian supporters claimed he had been ‘spared by Allah’ to take over the country.
But one Brit intelligence chief said: “It makes you wonder what he knew. I am always suspicious of the man who steps outside just before the bomb drops.”
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