Israel said Tuesday it had eliminated two more senior Iranian regime figures overnight, including Ali Larijani, one of Tehran’s top security officials who had publicly taunted President Trump just days earlier.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Larijani and Basij commander Gholam Reza Soleimani were both killed in strikes on the Iranian capital. Iran had not publicly confirmed the deaths as of Tuesday morning.
In a recent television interview, Larijani brushed off the U.S.-Israeli campaign and warned Trump to “watch out for yourself — lest you be eliminated,” according to Israeli and U.S. media reports.
The United States had also just placed Larijani among 10 senior Iranian officials covered by a Rewards for Justice offer of up to $10 million for information, according to Reuters and other reports from March 13-14.
In a separate announcement, Israel said it also killed Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, who headed the Basij, the Islamic Republic’s volunteer paramilitary force long accused of crushing internal dissent.
“Amid the internal protests in Iran, and particularly in recent times with their escalation, the Basij forces under Soleimani’s command led key suppression operations involving severe violence, widespread arrests, and the use of force against civilian protesters,” the IDF wrote on X.
“Larijani and the Basij commander were eliminated last night,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said, “and have joined [Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei, the head of the annihilation program, along with all those eliminated from the axis of evil in the depths of hell.”
בתקיפה מדויקת בטהרן: צה״ל חיסל את מפקד יחידת הבסיג׳
חיל האוויר בהכוונה מודיעינית מדויקת של אמ״ן, תקף אתמול באופן ממוקד בלב טהרן וחיסל את ע׳לאם רצ׳א סלימאני, מפקד יחידת הבסיג׳ לאורך שש השנים האחרונות.
כוחות הבסיג׳ מהווים חלק מהכוחות החמושים של משטר הטרור האיראני.
במסגרת המחאות… pic.twitter.com/qopLhFkXLF— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) March 17, 2026
Israeli and AP-linked reports said the military described Soleimani as a key figure in the regime’s suppression apparatus, citing “severe violence, widespread arrests, and the use of force against civilian demonstrators.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office posted an image of him talking on the phone Tuesday morning, saying in the caption that he was “ordering the elimination of senior Iranian regime officials.”
Photo: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordering the elimination of senior Iranian regime officials. pic.twitter.com/av6rIqNOFt
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) March 17, 2026
Fox News’ Trey Yingst provided analysis on the strikes Tuesday morning.
Two top Iranian officials were killed overnight in separate strikes. Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani and Basij commander Gholamreza Soleimani. pic.twitter.com/gcjUIEQhpm
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) March 17, 2026
More over at The New York Post:
Iran's brutal anti-protest enforcer is dead, Israel says – as Tehran launches fresh crackdown on dissent https://t.co/7ENPhF4Q4p pic.twitter.com/270vERe0gX
— New York Post (@nypost) March 17, 2026