An Iranian official who recently issued a warning to Donald Trump and threatened to “eliminate” the United States has reportedly been killed in an airstrike.
According to Iran’s Defence Ministry, Ali Larijani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, died in an Israeli strike carried out on the night of March 16.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that Larijani was a target of the operation, adding that another strike also resulted in the death of the leader of the Basij paramilitary group.
Just days before his death, Larijani had issued a strong warning to Trump, saying: “The nation of Iran is not afraid of your empty threats.
“Even those bigger than you could not eliminate the Iranian nation. Watch yourselves, or you might be eliminated!”
Larijani had been involved in Iran’s interim leadership council, which was responsible for guiding the country as it deliberated on a successor to Ali Khamenei.
Also reported killed in the strikes was Gholam Reza Soleimani, head of the Basij, a volunteer paramilitary force linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and often deployed to quell protests within the country.
While reports indicate Soleimani died on Monday, Iranian authorities did not immediately confirm his death.
In a statement, the Israeli military said: “The Basij forces are part of the armed apparatus of the Iranian terror regime,”
“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.”
According to the US Treasury, Soleimani, born in 1965, had been under sanctions from the United States, the European Union, and other countries over his alleged role in suppressing dissent through the Basij force over several years.