Iran’s Ali Larijani, Basij paramilitary head eliminated in Tehran strike: Israel

2026.03.17 10:20 Iranian Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani speaks during a press conference on August 13, 2025. Photo: AP Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that Iran’s powerful national security chief Ali Larijani was “eliminated last night”, along with the commander of Tehran’s Basij paramilitary force, General Gholam Reza Soleimani. “I have just been updated by the Chief of Staff that Larijani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, and the head of the Basij – Iran’s central repression apparatus – [Soleimani], were eliminated last night,” Katz said in a statement released by his ministry. There was no confirmation from Iran. The killings again strip away top leaders from the Iranian theocracy after the February 28 strike that killed 86-year-old supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Commander of Iran’s Basij paramilitary force Gholam Reza Soleimani gives a press conference in Tehran in November 2019. Photo: AP The Israeli military said a strike on Monday killed Soleimani, but Iran did not immediately acknowledge the militia leader’s death. “The Basij forces are part of the armed apparatus of the Iranian terror regime,” the Israeli military said in its statement. “During internal protests in Iran, particularly in recent periods as demonstrations intensified, Basij forces under Soleimani’s command led the main repression operations, employing severe violence, widespread arrests and the use of force against civilian demonstrators.” The US Treasury lists Soleimani as having been born in 1965. He has been sanctioned by the US, the European Union and other nations over his role in helping suppress dissent for years through the Basij. Killing Soleimani would likely further strain the command and control of the Basij, which would be crucial in putting down any uprising against the theocracy. The Basij and other internal security forces have been a target of attack by both the Americans and the Israelis so far. The

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