IDF kills Ali Larijani — Iran's de facto leader and head of National Security Council — in overnight airstrike near Tehran

The Israel Defense Forces announced on the morning of March 17 that they had killed Ali Larijani in an overnight airstrike near Tehran. The announcement was made by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and confirmed by multiple senior IDF officials. Larijani was Iran's most senior surviving leader. After US-Israeli airstrikes in the conflict's opening days killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and removed the upper echelons of Iran's government and military, Larijani — former Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, former nuclear negotiator, and longtime Khamenei confidant — emerged as Iran's de facto leader heading the Supreme National Security Council. The NYT had previously profiled him as the key figure with both the clout to hold Iran's power structure together and the pragmatism to potentially negotiate with the United States. Iran's authorities and state media did not immediately confirm the killing. Two Iranian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to the NYT that Larijani had been killed. His death deals a catastrophic blow to Iran's chain of command at a moment of maximum strategic pressure — removing both its most senior surviving leader and the individual most capable of orchestrating a negotiated end to the conflict. The IDF also confirmed on the same announcement the killing of Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij paramilitary forces, in the overnight strikes — two senior IRGC and state figures eliminated in a single operational window.