1 of 2 | Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani (C) one of two senior military officials Israel claimed it took out Tuesday morning. Larijani pictured here Friday was participating in the traditional Quds Day rally in support of the Palestinian cause in the capital Tehran. Photo by Iranian President’s Press Office/UPI | License Photo
March 17 (UPI) — Israel said Tuesday it had killed a second top Iranian military commander, security chief Ali Larijani, in an airstrike on Tehran hours after it said it had killed Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij paramilitary force.
Israeli President Israel Katz announced at around 9.30 a.m. local time that Larijani had been “eliminated” minutes after two Iranian state-run news agencies said Larijani would be releasing a statement imminently.
Katz said he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered the Israel Defense Forces to “continue hunting down” the Iranian regime’s remaining leadership.
“U.S. President Trump spoke about the high rate of turnover of Iran’s leadership… we will update him that the high rate of turnover continues and is even increasing following the assassination of two of the most senior remaining leaders,” said Katz.
Israeli media reported that Larijani was in an apartment “safehouse” with his son when the airstrike came.
He was last seen publicly attending Quds Day rallies on Friday in Tehran.
Supreme National Security Council secretary Larijani was one seniority level below late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and served as his representative on the powerful body. He was also a former nuclear negotiator and served as speaker of the Iranian parliament 2008 through 2020.
Soleimani headed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-linked Basij unit, which played a key role in a deadly crackdown on anti-government protests in January. The volunteer paramilitary reserve force was sanctioned by the United States for human rights abuses in 2011 and designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2018.
Iran has yet to confirm the deaths of either Larijani or Soleimani.
However, Larijani’s account on X was updated shortly after Israel said he had been killed with a handwritten note eulogizing Iranian navy personnel killed in a U.S. strike ahead of their funeral on Tuesday.
There was no indication of when or if the statement, which was also carried by Iranian state-run media, was penned by Larijani.
“The security and field of effort of the nation’s soldiers in distant areas, aimed at safeguarding the country’s national interests, continues despite all hardships,” read the note, which carried Larijani’s signature.
Specifics on the strikes by the Israeli Air Force were scant, but The Times of Israel reported the Israel Defense Forces targeted Soleimani at a camp he had recently established in Tehran after the paramilitary’s headquarters were destroyed.
“The elimination of Soleimani adds to that of dozens of senior commanders from the armed forces of the Iranian regime who have been eliminated during the operation, and constitutes an additional significant blow to the regime’s security command-and-control structures,” the IDF said in a statement on Telegram.
“The IDF will continue to operate with determination against commanders of the Iranian terror regime.”
Iran has yet to respond to the report as of Tuesday morning.
COMMANDER OF THE BASIJ UNIT ELIMINATED
Yesterday, the IDF targeted & eliminated Gholamreza Soleimani, who operated as commander of the Basij unit for the past 6 years.
Under Soleimani, the Basij unit led the main repression operations in Iran, employing severe violence,… pic.twitter.com/aJ0dNtCFz0— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 17, 2026
The IDF said it conducted a wave of strikes Monday targeting military infrastructure in the Iranian cities of Tehran, Shiraz and Tabriz.
Its warplanes dropped dozens of munitions on security force command centers in Tehran, including those belonging to the Basij, the IDF said in an earlier Tuesday statement.
“The completed strikes are part of an ongoing effort focused on deepening the damage to the Iranian terror regime’s core systems and weakening its capacity to threaten the State of Israel,” it said.
Later Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office published a photo on social media showing him on the phone, accompanied by a caption saying he was “ordering the elimination of senior regime officials.”
