Ali Larijani, Iran’s top security official, was killed in a plane crash, Israel said. Here’s why his death is important.
A senior Iranian security official Ali Larijani was killed in overnight strikes, Israel said on Tuesday, marking an important moment in the Islamic Republic conflict.
Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said in a statement that Larijani “has been eliminated.” There was no immediate confirmation from Iran of his killing.
Larijani, the head of Iran’s National Security Council, was one of the highest-ranking leaders still alive in Iran after the top leaders – including the Supreme Leader. Ali Khamenei – they were killed at the beginning of the war. He was one of the most knowledgeable people in the government and was most trusted by the late Khamenei. And he was among a very small group of people who could manage both the war and the politics around it.
He was a tough guy who understood negotiation, and a loyal system guy who understood limits.
Larijani has been a defiant voice since the start of the war and warned last week, in a message addressed to President Trump, that the Iranian people “should not be afraid of your empty threats; even those greater than you have failed to erase them … so be careful lest you become the ones who disappear.”
He was last seen in public on Friday at the al-Quds Day parade, an annual event in support of the Palestinians. It was an act of defiance as he walked through crowds in Tehran amid the conflict.
Why Larijani’s death is important
Larijani was a Revolutionary Guards officer who ran the country’s media, served as Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator and served as parliament speaker for more than a decade. Recently, he returned to the core of power as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, sitting at the crossroads of military, intelligence and political decisions. He also comes from one of the most powerful clerical families in Iran, which is very important to the King’s kingdom.
In the months leading up to the war, Larijani became even more important, at times effectively running the country’s day-to-day strategy as pressure mounted.
Operationally, the impact of his death is likely to be limited in the short term. Politically, it could harden attitudes and reinforce the narrative within Tehran that this is an existential war aimed at dismantling the leadership itself.
In the long run, it removes one of the few insiders who can help stop the political off-ramp. Figures like Larijani are often the ones who help manage not just how wars are fought, but how they end.
Larijani can work within the security regime and continue in external negotiations. He helped shape Iran’s nuclear stance and was involved in quiet efforts to reopen channels with Washington despite rising tensions.
Most importantly, he helped manage the political layer of the war itself.
He was one of the few people who could shape messages, target signals and keep the lines of communication out, even when fighting was going on, while remaining fully trusted by the system. Although he understood the ascension, he also understood where to stop. That made him one of the few figures in Tehran who could handle both sides of the problem at the same time, and without him, that ability is diminishing.
His death also means that Mojtaba Khameneiwho is the new supreme leader and the son of the late ayatollah, loses one of the few men who knew how his father wielded power. Larijani was close to the late Khamenei and part of an inner circle that understood how power was wielded at the top.
The Islamic Republic, however, is built to accept the loss of leaders like Larijani, so his death may not change Iran’s trajectory. Energy does not disappear, but rather changes while the system exists.
In his last messages, Larijani was blunt. He framed the war as an existential struggle and challenged the Muslim countries directly, asking them, “Which side are you on?” for their apparent silence as the violence continued. At the same time, he emphasized that Iran did not want to be dominated by its neighbors.
Larijani among other leaders who were killed
The Israeli military also announced on Tuesday the killing of General Gholam Reza Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s feared Basij.
“The Israeli Air Force, operating under the intelligence of the IDF, targeted and eliminated Gholamreza Soleimani, who served as the commander of the Basij unit for the past six years,” the IDF said in a statement, accusing the Basij, under the command of Soleimani, of leading “operations of extreme repression, using severe violence, arresting many people against the government,” the IDF said. protests that swept through Iran in January.
The IDF called Soleimani’s killing “a significant blow to the regime’s security forces” and vowed to “continue to work diligently against the leadership of the terrorist regime in Iran.”
The Trump administration said earlier this month that the operation in Iran had killed 49 “senior leaders of the Iranian regime.”
The US said on Friday it would offer up to $10 million, and possible extradition, for information on the whereabouts of Iran’s top 10 leaders. Larijani was among them.
