Iran security chief Ali Larijani killed in overnight strike, claims Israel

Mangalore Today News Network

Jerusalem, Mar 17, 2026: Ali Larijani, Iran’s security chief, was among those targeted in Israeli strikes on Iran overnight, according to Israeli media reports. It remains unclear if Larijani, a top figure in Iran’s establishment, was killed or injured in the strike, according to a report by Times of Israel.

Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, has also claimed that Larijani has been killed.

Iran has, however, not yet commented on the reports. Larijani, a former nuclear negotiator who serves as secretary of Iran’s National Security Council, is widely seen as one of the most influential figures in Iran’s power structure.

If his death is confirmed, Larijani would be the most senior Iranian official to be killed after the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who died on the first day of the war. Larijani was a close ally of Ali Khamenei.

He was reportedly last seen in public during Quds Day rallies in Tehran on Friday. Later that day, the US offered a reward of up to $10 million for information on senior Iranian military and intelligence officials, including Larijani, as part of a list of 10 figures linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Multiple Israeli media outlets also said the strikes targeted Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Basij Resistance Force, and other senior Basij figures, with the outcome of the strikes still being assessed. Iran, however, did not immediately acknowledge the militia leader’s death.
Iran Media Issues Larijani’s Statement

Meanwhile, Iran’s state media, Press TV, on Tuesday issued a statement attributed to Larijani, where Iran’s security chief slammed US President Donald Trump.

"47 years ago, on the eve of the people’s victory in the Islamic Revolution of Iran, the prime minister of the Pahlavi regime claimed that the sound of the massive crowds chanting in the streets was not real but rather the sound of a tape recording! Now Trump says about the millions-strong anti-American and anti-Israeli gatherings in Iranian cities that these images are artificial intelligence," the statement read.

"The historic victory of the Iranian people over the remnants of Epstein’s Island is near", it added.

Larijani’s Call To Islamic World

The reports came a day after Iran’s secretary of the Supreme National Security Council issued a message to the Muslim world saying that Tehran remains "steadfast" in its fight against the US and Israel.

Larijani expressed disappointment at what he perceived as a lack of support from Muslim-majority countries when Iran came under attack.

"Iran was subjected to a treacherous American-Zionist aggression that occurred during negotiations and whose aim was to dismantle Iran. This aggression led to the martyrdom of the great and self-sacrificing leader of the Islamic Revolution and a number of civilians and military commanders," he said on Monday.