(AFP) – Israel said Tuesday it had killed Iran’s powerful national security chief, Ali Larijani, in what would be a huge blow to the Islamic Republic more than two weeks into the war engulfing the Middle East. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz stated that Larijani was “eliminated last night,” although this claim has not been confirmed by Iran. This development follows less than three weeks after US-Israeli strikes on February 28 that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader since 1989, triggering a regional war with global repercussions.
Larijani, 68, has been described as a “true insider” in Iran, closely associated with the late ayatollah and central to the republic’s nuclear policy and strategic diplomacy over decades. After the war broke out, he became even more powerful. While the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has not appeared in public since his appointment to replace his slain father, Larijani was seen walking with crowds at a pro-government rally last week in Tehran.
The reported assassination comes as strikes shook countries across the Middle East on Tuesday, from Gulf nations to Iraq, Lebanon, and Iran. An AFP reporter had earlier Tuesday reported blasts in Tehran, following a night of heavy bombardment mixed with thunder and rain.
Shortly after Israel claimed to have killed him, Larijani’s official social media profiles posted a handwritten note by him paying tribute to Iranian sailors killed when a US submarine sank an Iranian frigate earlier this month. The note was not dated, nor did the post address the claim of his death, which Iran has not confirmed.
Israel also reported Tuesday that it had killed Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij paramilitary force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, in a strike on Monday in Tehran. Furthermore, it said it had targeted Akram al-Ajouri, head of the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in a strike in Iran, although his death has not been confirmed.
Since the attacks by Hamas on October 7, 2023, Israel has been pursuing what analysts describe as a policy of decapitation, targeting the leaders of its enemies, including Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon, along with top leaders in Gaza. The whereabouts of Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, remain a topic of speculation, and US President Donald Trump stated on Monday, “we don’t know… if he’s dead or not.”
Across the region, hundreds of individuals have been killed, and millions more displaced in the war, which has also resulted in soaring oil prices. In retaliation for the US-Israel attacks, Iran has targeted US interests, energy facilities, and the civilian infrastructure of its energy-rich neighbors. Its threats and attacks on tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global crude oil passes, have effectively closed this key waterway.
Oil prices surged approximately three percent on Tuesday after several countries rejected Trump’s demand for them to assist in securing the strait by sending warships to escort tankers. The US President has warned that failure to cooperate would have “very bad” implications for the future of the NATO military alliance. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer indicated that London was collaborating with allies to devise a “viable” plan to reopen the strait, but ruled out a NATO mission. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz noted on Monday that the war was “not a matter for NATO,” and EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels expressed no desire to join the conflict.
Analysts commented that it was not surprising America’s allies showed reluctance to engage in a war they were not consulted about, especially given the previous year of tensions with Washington on issues like tariffs and Greenland. Erwan Lagadec of George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs stated that the United States had “launched a war without consulting allies, expecting them to mop up the mess, and that’s not going to fly.” Trump has also appealed to China to assist with the Strait of Hormuz.
In a startling admission on Monday, Trump expressed surprise at Iran’s aggressive response to the US-Israel attacks, asserting, “They weren’t supposed to go after all these other countries in the Middle East. Those missiles were set to go after them.” He added that they unexpectedly hit Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Kuwait, leading to widespread shock.
Falling debris from a missile interception killed one person in the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi and injured two medical staff in Kuwait. Additionally, the UAE’s oil industrial zone of Fujairah was struck on Tuesday morning, igniting a fire but causing no injuries, according to local authorities. Israel conducted new strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Tuesday, and again instructed residents of vast parts of southern Lebanon to evacuate.
The conflict has displaced over a million people in Lebanon, while Israeli strikes have reportedly killed 886 individuals, including 67 women and 111 children, since March 2, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. Lebanon became further embroiled in the war when Tehran-backed Hezbollah militants struck Israel in response to Khamenei’s assassination.
The war is also spilling into Iraq, a region that has long served as a proxy battleground between the United States and Iran, though it has sought to remain neutral. Early Tuesday, a drone and rocket attack targeted the US embassy in Baghdad, while another strike killed four individuals at a house reportedly hosting Iranian advisors, according to security officials.
burs-ar/ser – AFP teams in Tehran, Jerusalem, Beirut, and Washington.
© 2024 AFP
