DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: Ali Larijani, a top Iranian security official, was widely believed to be running the country as it reeled from the killing of its supreme leader and a widening war. Israel said Tuesday that it killed Larijani in an overnight strike.
Israel’s military also said it killed Iranian Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, who led a powerful internal security force that has crushed waves of mass protests against the Shiite theocracy.
Iranian authorities later confirmed both deaths. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top security officials were killed in the surprise US and Israeli strikes that started the war. Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba, who was appointed to replace him, has not been seen in public, and Israel suspects he was wounded.
The killing of top leaders has so far had little impact on the war itself, as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard continues to fire missiles at Israel and Arab Gulf countries. Iran has also effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes, sending prices up and rattling the world economy.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes were aimed at weakening Iran’s government “to give the Iranian people the opportunity to remove it.” There have been no signs of anti-government protests since the war began, as many Iranians are sheltering from the American and Israeli strikes.
