THERAN/TEL AVIV (dpa): Iranian security chief Ali Larijani has been killed in an airstrike in Tehran, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday.
The secretary general of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran died in a targeted attack overnight, Katz's office said.
There was no immediate confirmation from Iranian authorities.
Larijani was appointed to the post in August 2025 after previously serving as a close adviser to supreme leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on February 28.
Larijani's rise to the senior security job had surprised some observers, as he had built a reputation inside and outside Iran as the pragmatic face of the Iranian establishment.
He had presidential ambitions but was barred from running in the 2024 election by the Guardian Council, which vets all legislation and candidates for elected offices.
Israel also claims killing of Basij commander
Shortly before the announcement on Larijani, Israel’s military said it had killed the commander of Iran’s Basij forces, Brigadier General Gholamreza Soleimani, in a strike in Tehran on Monday. There was no confirmation from Iran.
The Israeli military said the Basij forces under Soleimani were responsible for the violent suppression of mass anti-government protests in Iran in January.
The Basij-e Mostazafin, or "Mobilization of the Oppressed," is a paramilitary force established after Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. The militia, which recruits largely from younger segments of society, plays a key role in suppressing dissent and is part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
It is believed to have several hundred thousand loyal members.
Israel has killed dozens of senior figures in Iran’s hardline clerical leadership during the current conflict.
Israeli media also reported on Tuesday that the military had attempted to target a senior member of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad in Iran.
Larijani: Major figure in Iran's power structure
Iran's Supreme National Security Council oversees defence policy.
Chaired by the president, it comprises ministers and senior military officials, while its secretary general - the role held by Larijani - serves as a representative of the supreme leader.
Its decisions can take effect without parliamentary approval once endorsed by the supreme leader.
Larijani, 67, studied mathematics and was a long-time figure in Iranian politics, including serving as a nuclear negotiator in talks with Washington. In recent years, as tensions with Western powers escalated, he had expressed more moderate views.
Like many senior Iranian officials, he began his career in the Revolutionary Guards, rising to the rank of brigadier general before leaving active service in the early 1990s.
Exile media outlet IranWire reported that he played a key role in the suppression of recent mass protests, in which thousands of demonstrators were killed in early January. The United States had imposed sanctions on Larijani over his role in the crackdown.
IranWire also cited a source as saying Larijani supported cultural and economic reforms and a diplomatic opening similar to China’s model.
Israel cites "significant operational successes"
Israel’s military said Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir described overnight operations in Iran as "significant operational successes" that could affect the army’s operational outcomes and objectives, without referring directly to Larijani.
Zamir said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were acting "decisively against multiple targets in Iran," including infrastructure linked to the Iranian leadership as well as elements of the Revolutionary Guards.
While announcing Larijani and Soleimani's deaths, Israeli Defence Minister Katz said US President Donald Trump would be receiving an update on the military campaign that the two countries launched on February 28.
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have instructed the IDF to continue pursuing the leadership of the terror and oppression regime in Iran, and to repeatedly cut off the head of the octopus and prevent it from regrowing.
"US President Trump spoke about the high rate of turnover within Iran’s leadership. When morning breaks in Washington, we will update him that the high rate of turnover is continuing and even accelerating following the elimination of two of the most senior remaining figures." - dpa
