Iran's security chief Ali Larijani has been killed in an Israeli strike, according to Israeli leaders. Larijani, a 68-year-old pragmatist, had been a key figure in the Islamic republic's battle for survival and was deeply implicated in the brutal crackdown on anti-government protests in January.
He had risen to prominence after the Israeli and US strikes killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the start of the Middle East war, and had played a far more visible role than Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, during the current war.
Larijani was a veteran of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and had held various positions, including head of state broadcaster IRIB and parliamentary speaker. He was also a key figure in maintaining the continuity of the Iranian government and was known for his ability to balance ideological loyalty with pragmatic statecraft.
His killing is seen as a significant blow to the Iranian government, and experts agree that he was a key figure in the regime's survival and regional policy. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has argued that Larijani's downfall could give the Iranian people an opening to rise up and overthrow their clerical rulers.
