Iranian authorities have confirmed the death of Ali Larijani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council. He was considered one of the most influential figures in Iran.
Alongside Larijani, his son Morteza, his deputy Alireza Bayat, and several bodyguards were killed, according to a statement by the Secretariat of the Supreme National Security Council published late on the evening of March 17.
Earlier that morning, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz reported that Larijani had been killed in an Israeli strike. Media outlets wrote that the Israeli military had targeted one of his safe apartments in Tehran, where he was staying with his son. “He had no chance of surviving such a strike,” a source from Israel’s Channel 12 said.
Journalist Christiane Amanpour, citing a source, writes that as of September 2025 Ali Larijani had been the preferred candidate of the United States and Israel for a transitional period in the event of a change of power in Iran. However, according to her, the situation changed in early February because Larijani insisted on suppressing protests, took a leading role in criticizing the United States and Israel, and assumed a key role in developing the strategy for forceful actions by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), particularly against the states of the Persian Gulf.
The IRGC had earlier also confirmed the death of Gholamreza Soleimani, commander of the Basij volunteer paramilitary force.
Israel and the United States launched their operation against Iran on February 28. As a result of the strikes, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed, and military facilities and oil storage sites were damaged. In response, Iran has been striking U.S. military bases and allied infrastructure in the Persian Gulf states, and has also blocked shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil passes.
On the morning of March 17, Iran attacked the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. According to Reuters, rockets and at least five drones were launched at the diplomatic mission. Air defense systems intercepted two of them, while one drone crashed on embassy grounds, causing a fire. On March 18, according to media reports, Iran again attacked the area where the U.S. Embassy is located.
