Ali Larijani, senior advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, delivers a speech in Beirut, Lebanon, on Nov. 15, 2024. (Str/Xinhua)
Israel's defense minister says its military has killed Iran's security chief, Ali Larijani, in a strike.
Larijani was last seen in public at a Quds Day march in Tehran on Friday.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says Ali Larijani was "one of the most veteran and senior figures within the Iranian regime leadership" after announcing the Iranian security chief had been killed in a strike.
After Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed, the IDF says, Larijani "functioned as the leader of the Iranian regime" and led its combat against Israel and neighbouring countries.
The Israeli military also links Larijani with a crackdown on anti-establishment protesters in Iran, suggesting he "advanced violent enforcement measures and repression operations".
Iran is yet to confirm Larijani's death, and state media has published a photo of a handwritten message said to have been issued by him, which was also posted on his social media accounts.
A statement from Ali Larijani, posted by Iranian media outlets earlier this morning, seems to be nothing more than a message written to mark the funeral of Iranian sailors killed almost two weeks ago.
In an earlier statement, issued hours before Israel claimed to have killed him, Larijani bemoaned the lack of support for Iran from fellow Muslim countries.
"No Islamic government stood alongside the people of Iran," he complained, "except in rare cases and limited to political positions."
The language of the message, addressed to Muslims worldwide, suggested that the top security official believed Iran’s cause might resonate on the streets of Muslim nations, even if their governments had largely turned their backs.
"The United States and Israel on one side and Muslim Iran and the forces of resistance on the other," he wrote. "Which side of this battle do you stand on?"
Larijani reserved special scorn for Gulf countries that have hosted American forces or conducted rapprochements with Israel.
"Is Iran expected to sit idly by while American bases in your countries are used to attack it?" he asked.
Drones and rockets have been launched at the US embassy in Iraq's capital, Baghdad, in the second such attack of the war.
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates reopens its airspace after missile and drone threats from Iran forced it to close briefly
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