TEHRAN: Iran confirmed Tuesday the death of its powerful national security chief, after Israel said he was killed in an airstrike and vowed to hunt down and "neutralize" Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.
The death of Ali Larijani represents a major blow to Iran, whose long-serving leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed less than three weeks ago in US-Israeli strikes that ignited the war in the Middle East.
The assassination came as Iran's parliament speaker vowed that shipping in the Strait of Hormuz would not return to its pre-war norm, and US President Donald Trump blasted allies for rebuffing his call to help escort oil tankers through the blockaded waterway.
Larijani, who was close to the late ayatollah, had helped lead Iran's retaliatory campaign in the war.
"After a lifetime of struggle for the advancement of Iran and of the Islamic Revolution, he ultimately attained his long-held aspiration, answered the divine call, and honourably achieved the sweet grace of martyrdom in the trench of service," Iran's Supreme National Security Council announced.
Israel's military vowed it would also eliminate Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late ayatollah who took power after his father's death on Feb 28.
"We don't know about Mojtaba Khamenei, we don't hear him, we don't see him, but I can tell you one thing: we will track him down, find him, and neutralise him," military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin told reporters.
'Right-hand man'
In a televised statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Larijani as "the boss of the Revolutionary Guards, which is the gang of gangsters that actually runs Iran".
He said the overthrow of Iran's authorities by the people "will not happen all at once, it will not happen easily. But if we persist in this -- we will give them a chance to take their fate into their own hands."
While Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public since he was appointed, Larijani, 68, walked with crowds at a pro-government rally last week in Tehran.
"He has effectively been the figure in charge of the regime's survival, its regional policy and its defence strategy," David Khalfa, co-founder of the Atlantic Middle East Forum, told AFP.
"It's the supreme leader who gives the order, but he is the one who carries it out. He is the right-hand man."
Shortly after Israel said it had killed him, Larijani's official social media profiles posted a handwritten note by him paying tribute to Iranian sailors killed in a US submarine attack this month.
Images on Iranian state television showed large crowds rallying from the early evening in Tehran and other cities, many waving the nation's flag, on a night usually marked by festive celebrations ahead of the Persian new year, Nowruz.
AFP journalists reported muted Nowruz celebrations in Tehran, with some fireworks and crackers heard between shots from air defence systems.
Larijani's funeral, as well as that of Gholamreza Soleimani, who headed the Basij paramilitary force and was also killed by Israel on Tuesday, will be held on Wednesday morning in central Tehran, the Fars and Tasnim agencies reported.
Israel's military said it was striking positions of Iran's Basij paramilitary force around Tehran on Tuesday, after announcing it had killed the group's top commander, Soleimani.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards confirmed Soleimani's death in a statement Tuesday evening.
Israel earlier said it had also targeted Akram al-Ajouri, head of the military wing of the group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in a strike in Iran.
Since the October 7, 2023, cross-border attacks by Hamas into Israel from Gaza, Israel has pursued what analysts have described as a policy of decapitation, targeting the leaders of its enemies.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Tuesday called these assassinations "truly illegal".
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