Israel Claims to Have Killed Iran's Top Security Official Ali Larijani

Israeli Defence Minister Katz has stated that the Israeli military has killed Ali Larijani, Iran’s top security chief, in the latest Israeli strikes. Larijani, who served as the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, is described as the right-hand man of Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

According to Al Jazeera, on Tuesday 17 March 2026, Katz also claimed that Israeli forces killed Gholamreza Soleimani, a commander of the Basij paramilitary militia. The Basij is an internal security paramilitary force within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The Iranian government published a handwritten note attributed to Larijani via his social media accounts in response to Katz’s statement. It remains unclear whether this was intended as evidence that he remains alive. The note commemorated Iranian sailors killed in American attacks, with their funeral scheduled for Tuesday 17 March.

The Iranian government has not confirmed Larijani’s death. If confirmed, this would constitute the highest-level killing in the conflict between Iran and the United States and Israel, following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Larijani was last publicly seen on Friday 13 March, when he attended the Quds Day rally in support of Palestine in Tehran alongside Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.