Iran's security chief Ali Larijani killed in Israeli strike: A key architect of Tehran's power structure gone

Tehran confirmed Tuesday that Ali Larijani, Iran's top security chief, died in an Israeli airstrike, just hours after Israel announced it had taken him out.

Iran's Supreme National Security Council said Larijani perished with his son and bodyguards, hailing him as a “martyr” for his lifelong service to the Islamic Republic. “The pure souls of the martyrs embraced the purified soul of God’s righteous servant, Martyr Dr. Ali Larijani,” the council stated.

Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed the kill earlier that day, naming Larijani alongside the Basij paramilitary commander as targets "eliminated last night." Katz declared they had “joined Khamenei along with all those eliminated from the axis of evil in the depths of hell.”

The military vowed to hunt Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei. “We don’t know about Mojtaba Khamenei, we don’t hear him, we don’t see him,” said spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin. “But I can tell you one thing: We will track him down, find him, and neutralise him.”

Escalating Conflict

Larijani's death caps a string of strikes on Iran's elite, as Tehran presses missile and drone attacks while choking the Strait of Hormuz oil route. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu framed the hits as a push to "weaken Iran’s leadership to give the Iranian people the opportunity to remove it," though no protests have surfaced amid civilian sheltering.

Just a week prior, Larijani had dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump's warnings: “The sacrificial nation of Iran doesn’t fear your empty threats, even those bigger than you couldn’t eliminate Iran,” he wrote. “Be careful not to get eliminated yourself.”

Power Insider

From a family likened to America's Kennedys, brothers as the judiciary chief and foreign policy adviser, Larijani shaped Iran's core. He led parliament from 2008 to 2020 and the Supreme National Security Council on defence and foreign policy.

Nuclear Architect

As chief negotiator in 2005-2007, he championed uranium enrichment, likening Western halts to “exchanging a pearl for a candy bar.” He advised on U.S. talks while courting Russia and China, and even hinted pre-war at resolvability: “In my view, this issue is resolvable.”

Pragmatic yet loyal, he bridged diplomacy and domestic control, earning U.S. sanctions for protest crackdowns, where he stood “at the forefront of the repression.”

Revolutionary Rise

Born in 1958 in Iraq's Najaf to clerics, he grew up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. He fought in the Iran-Iraq War with the Revolutionary Guards, then ran the culture ministry censorship and state media.

Once an unchallenged insider despite Guard rivalry, Larijani's strike death with his son deepens Iran's top-tier losses.