JAKARTA - Israel claims that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) attack on Iran has once again killed an important figure in the chain of command of the State of the Mullahs.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on Tuesday that Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani had been "eliminated" on Monday night.
"Larijani and the Basij Commander were eliminated last night and joined the head of the extermination program, Khamenei, and all members of the crime axis who have been eliminated in the depths of hell," Katz said, as reported by CNN (17/3).
"The prime minister and I have instructed the IDF to continue to hunt down the leadership of the terrorist and repressive regime in Iran, and to repeatedly decapitate the octopus and not let it grow," he added.
Iran has not confirmed the alleged killing of Larijani. The state-affiliated Tasnim news agency later posted a handwritten note allegedly from Larijani on its Telegram channel mourning the dead navy member. The letter is dated March 17.
Larijani is among the most influential civilian officials in Iran and close to the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Meanwhile, the IDF said its forces managed to kill the commander of the Basij paramilitary force.
The Israeli military said it had killed Iranian Basij paramilitary chief Gholamreza Soleimani in a targeted strike on Monday.
The IDF said the killing "represents an additional significant blow to the regime's security command and control structure."
However, the IDF did not specify where Soleimani was killed.
An Israeli source familiar with the matter told CNN that a number of other senior commanders of the Basij forces had also been killed.
Soleimani was appointed as the head of Basij by the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in July 2019. During his tenure, Basij played a key role in suppressing anti-government protests, including the 2019 demonstrations. Due to his alleged involvement in this repression, Soleimani was sanctioned by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and other countries.
The Basij is a volunteer militia under the Iranian Revolutionary Guard that enforces internal security, suppresses dissent and mobilises civilians to support the regime.
Like the news of Larijani's death, Iran has not confirmed the alleged death of Soleimani.
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