Israel says Iran’s security chief, Ali Larijani, has been killed in a strike

NoodlesOrTokens · 2026-03-17T11:22:10+00:00

Ali Larijani, Iran's security chief, was reportedly killed in Israeli airstrikes, according to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz. Larijani's death comes amid escalating tensions and Iranian retaliation following a war that began on February 28.

NoodlesOrTokens

2026-03-17 11:22:10

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Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, arrives in Beirut, Lebanon, on September 27, 2025, to attend a memorial service for Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Courtney Bonneau | Afp | Getty Images

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that Iran’s security chief, Ali Larijani, had been killed in airstrikes overnight.

Katz said in a statement that he had been informed by the military that Larijani and the commander of Iran’s Basij forces, Gholamreza Soleimani, had both been killed, according to Reuters.

Iran has not yet confirmed the report.

Larijani was seen as the right-hand man of Iran’s late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in strikes aimed at high-ranking Iranian officials at the beginning of the war on Feb. 28.

Iran has since retaliated by attacking its Gulf neighbors and targeting ships trying to pass through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Soleimani led the Basij forces, a key paramilitary force used to quell protests in the Islamic Republic.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a social-media post on Tuesday morning that Netanyahu had ordered the elimination of senior officials of the Iranian regime.

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