Iran officially mourned on Tuesday night the death of Ali Larijani , the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and one of the key figures in the government, hours after Israel announced his assassination in an air strike.
A statement from the Secretariat of the Council read, “One of God’s servants has joined his Lord as a martyr,” adding, “After a life of struggle for the progress of Iran and the Islamic Revolution… he attained, in a blessed dawn of the month of Ramadan, along with his faithful son Morteza, the security assistant in the General Secretariat of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Reza Bayat, and a group of zealous protectors, the high rank of martyrdom.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz announced that Larijani had been assassinated in an Israeli airstrike.
Larijani’s praising the Iranian sailors who were killed in an American attack and whose funeral is expected to be held today.
Earlier on Tuesday, Hebrew media reported that Israel had targeted Larijani the previous night.
The newspaper Yediot Aharonot reported that Ali Larijani was one of the targets of the Israeli raids on Iran last night.
The official Hebrew Broadcasting Authority described him as the “highest figure” in Iran after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the Israeli-American aggression against Iran.
The official Hebrew Broadcasting Authority considered Larijani the “most powerful figure” in Iran after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Larijani, the former nuclear negotiator and close ally of Khamenei, was seen in Tehran on Friday participating in Quds Day marches.
Later that day, the United States offered a reward of up to $10 million for information on senior Iranian military and intelligence officials, including Larijani, on a list of 10 individuals linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard announced Tuesday evening the death of Basij commander Gholamreza Soleimani. In a statement on its website, it confirmed "the martyrdom of Commander Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij organization, in a terrorist attack carried out by the American-Zionist enemy."
