Ali Larijani, Iran

Top Iranian security official Ali Larijani died in overnight attacks, Israel said Tuesday, marking a significant moment for the Islamic Republic in the conflict.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that Larijani was “eliminated.” There was no immediate confirmation from Iran of his apparent assassination.

Larijani, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, was among the most senior regime leaders still alive in Iran, after top leaders including the Supreme Leader. Ali Khamenei – were killed at the beginning of the war. He was one of the most experienced members of the regime and was deeply trusted by the late Khamenei. He was also part of a very small group of people who could manage both the war and the politics surrounding it.

He was a hardliner who understood negotiation, and also a system loyalist who understood limits.

Larijani had been a defiant voice since the war began, warning just a week ago, in a message to President Trump, that the Iranian people “are not afraid of your empty threats; not even those older than you have managed to erase them…so be careful not to be the ones who disappear.”

His last public appearance was on Friday at a rally for Al Quds Day, an annual event in support of the Palestinians. It was an act of defiance as he walked through the crowds in Tehran in the midst of the conflict.

Why Larijani’s death is significant

Larijani was a former Revolutionary Guard officer who later ran state broadcasting, was Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator and was speaker of parliament for more than a decade. Most recently, he returned to the center of power as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, sitting at the intersection of military, intelligence and policy decision-making. He also came from one of the most powerful clerical families in Iran, which matters in theocracy.

In the months before the war, Larijani had become even more important, at times effectively directing the country’s daily strategy as pressure mounted.

Operationally, the impact of his death is likely to be limited in the short term. Politically, it could harden attitudes and reinforce the narrative within Tehran that this is an existential struggle aimed at dismantling the leadership itself.

Over time, it eliminates one of the few insiders who could help shape a political exit route. Figures like Larijani are often the ones who help manage not only how wars are fought, but also how they end.

Larijani could operate within the security state and still participate in external negotiations. He helped shape Iran’s nuclear posture and participated in quiet efforts to reopen channels with Washington even as tensions escalated.

Equally important is that he helped manage the political layer of the war itself.

He was one of the few figures who could shape messages, signal intentions, and maintain external lines of communication, even as fighting continued, while still fully trusting the system. While he understood the climb, he also understood where he should stop. That made him one of the few figures in Tehran capable of managing both sides of a crisis at once, and without him, that ability is diminished.

His death also means that Mojtaba Khameneiwho is the new supreme leader and son of the late Ayatollah, loses one of the few men who knew how his father really wielded power. Larijani was close to the late Khamenei and was part of an inner circle that understood how power was exercised from above.

The Islamic Republic, however, is built to absorb the losses of leaders like Larijani, so his death may not fundamentally change Iran’s trajectory. Power does not disappear, but changes while the system remains.

In his final messages, Larijani was blunt. He framed the war as an existential struggle and directly challenged Muslim countries, asking them: “Which side are you on?” for their apparent silence while the violence continued. At the same time, he insisted that Iran was not seeking to dominate its neighbors.

Larijani, among other assassinated leaders

The Israeli military also announced on Tuesday the assassination of General Gholam Reza Soleimani, commander of Iran’s feared Basij paramilitary force.

“The Israeli Air Force, acting on the basis of IDF intelligence, targeted and eliminated Gholamreza Soleimani, who operated as commander of the Basij unit for the past six years,” the Israeli military said in a statement, accusing the Basij, under Soleimani’s command, of leading “major repression operations, employing severe violence, widespread arrests and the use of force against civilian protesters” to quell anti-government protests that spread across all of Iran in January.

The IDF called Soleimani’s killing “an additional significant blow to the regime’s security command and control structures” and vowed to “continue to operate resolutely against the commanders of the Iranian terrorist regime.”

The Trump administration said earlier this month that the operation against Iran had killed 49 of “the most senior leaders of the Iranian regime.”

The United States said on Friday it was offering up to $10 million, and the possible opportunity to relocate, for information on the whereabouts of 10 senior Iranian leaders. Larijani was among them.