Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday that the Israel Defense Forces killed top Iranian security official Ali Larijani and Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force, in an overnight strike.“Larijani and the Basij commander were eliminated last night and have joined Khamenei, the head of the annihilation program, along with all those eliminated from the axis of evil in the depths of hell,” Katz said in a statement, The Associated Press reported.
Iranian state media did not immediately confirm the two deaths, but said that a message from Larijani’s office would be published shortly.
Larijani was appointed to advise the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on strategy in nuclear talks with the Trump administration.
The Treasury Department in January sanctioned Larijani as the Iranian government violently suppressed nationwide protests. The department identified Larijani as being “responsible for coordinating the response to the protests on behalf of the supreme leader of Iran.”
“Larijani was one of the first Iranian leaders to call for violence in response to the legitimate demands of the Iranian people,” the Treasury Department said at the time.
The violent crackdown of the nationwide protests in January saw thousands killed and tens of thousands detained.
Without acknowledging the Israeli claim of his death, Larijani’s office published a handwritten letter in Farsi that it said he wrote on behalf of the crew killed aboard the IRIS Dena, the Iranian frigate that a U.S. submarine sank in the war.
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