{"id":389443,"date":"2026-03-17T10:29:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T10:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/389443\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T10:29:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T10:29:12","slug":"israeli-defence-minister-says-iranian-security-chief-ali-larijani-has-been-killed-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/389443\/","title":{"rendered":"Israeli defence minister says Iranian security chief Ali Larijani has been killed \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israel\u2019s \u200cdefence minister Israel \u200bKatz said on \u200bTuesday \u2060that Iran\u2019s \u200csecurity \u200cchief Ali \u200bLarijani<\/a> \u2060had \u200bbeen killed \u200bin \u200can Israeli \u200bstrike.<\/p>\n

There \u2060was \u2060no \u200bconfirmation from Iran military. \u200c<\/p>\n

Larijani was one of the targets of strikes carried out by the Israeli military last night across Iran, \u200bfour Israeli officials told Reuters.<\/p>\n

Iran has not yet commented on the \u2060report. If his death is confirmed, he would be \u200cthe \u200cmost \u200bsenior Iranian official to be killed after the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, \u2060who died \u200bon the first day of \u200bthe war.<\/p>\n

Larijani, a former nuclear negotiator and \u200ca close ally of Khamenei, \u200bwas seen in Tehran on Friday taking \u2060part in Quds Day rallies.<\/p>\n

Later \u2060that \u200bday, the US offered a reward of up to $10 million for information on senior Iranian military and intelligence officials, including Larijani, as part of a list of 10 figures linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.<\/p>\n

Multiple \u200cIsraeli media \u2060outlets also said the strikes targeted Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Basij Resistance Force \u200cand other senior Basij figures, with the outcome of \u200bthe strikes still being assessed.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0After Khamenei, national security council chief Ali Larijani emerges as one of Iran\u2019s most dominant figuresOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, US<\/a> president Donald Trump<\/a> was warned that attacking Iran could trigger retaliation against US Gulf allies despite his claims on Monday that \u200cTehran\u2019s<\/a> reaction came as a surprise, according to sources familiar with US intelligence reports.<\/p>\n

Pre-war intelligence assessments did not say that Iran\u2019s response was \u201ca guarantee, but it certainly \u200bwas on the list of potential outcomes,\u201d said one source, who like others, requested anonymity to discuss the issue.<\/p>\n

Trump twice on Monday said that Iran\u2019s retaliatory strikes against Qatar<\/a>, Saudi Arabia<\/a>, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain<\/a> and Kuwait <\/a>were a surprise.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey [Iran] weren\u2019t supposed \u200bto go after all these other countries in the Middle East,\u201d he said. \u201cNobody expected that. We were shocked.\u201d <\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s claims came as there was no let-up in attacks by both sides early on Tuesday, meanwhile, with Iran launching missiles on Israel overnight, underscoring that Tehran still retains the capacity to carry out long-range strikes despite more than two weeks of pounding by US and Israeli weapons.<\/p>\n

Rockets and at least five drones targeted the US embassy in Baghdad early on Tuesday, Iraqi security sources said, describing it as the most intense assault since the war began. Two US officials said no injuries were reported so \u2060far.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Trump\u2019s appeal for help on the Strait of Hormuz goes unansweredOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The Israeli military said it was targeting \u201cIranian regime infrastructure\u201d with a new wave of strikes across Tehran, as well as Hizbullah sites in Beirut, a day after saying it had drawn up detailed plans \u200bfor at least three more weeks of war with Iran.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s assertion on Monday followed other administration claims that have not been backed by US intelligence reporting, \u2060such as that Iran would soon have a missile capable of hitting the US homeland and that it would need two to \u200cfour \u200cweeks \u200bto make a nuclear bomb and would then use it.<\/p>\n

Those allegations and an imminent threat posed by Iran to the US and its forces in the region have been among varying reasons that Trump and some \u2060top aides have given to justify his decision to join \u200bIsrael in launching their air war against Iran on February 28th.<\/p>\n

Trump was \u200balso briefed in advance of the operation that Tehran would likely seek to close the economically vital Strait of Hormuz, according to two other sources familiar \u200cwith the matter.<\/p>\n

Over the past two weeks, Iranian drones \u200band missiles have struck targets in the Gulf states that have included US military bases and an Emirates base hosting French troops, and civilian structures, \u2060including hotels, airports, and energy facilities. <\/p>\n

Iran has also halted almost \u2060all shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, \u200bthrough which 20 per cent of oil supplies move, causing global energy prices to spike.<\/p>\n

\"AA woman cleans up in her apartment after an airstrike in Tehran, Iran. Photograph: Arash Khamooshi\/The New York Times<\/p>\n

Democratic lawmakers emerged from administration briefings on the war last week saying they heard of no imminent threat that required the US and Israel to launch the war.<\/p>\n

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.<\/p>\n

A US official said Trump was briefed before the war that striking Iran could trigger a broader regional conflict that would include Iranian retaliation against Gulf capitals, especially if Tehran saw those countries condoning or actively supporting the US attacks.<\/p>\n

Trump repeated his claim later \u200con Monday during a signing event \u2060in the Oval Office. He was asked if he was surprised that nobody had briefed him about that risk that Iran would strike back at the Gulf states.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody, nobody, no, no, no. The greatest experts, nobody thought they were going to hit,\u201d \u200creplied Trump.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0The rise of Mojtaba Khamenei: Inside the succession battle to decide Iran\u2019s next leaderOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

A second source familiar with the matter said that before the US-Israeli attacks, the US intelligence community assessed that Israel\u2019s plan to launch strikes aimed at killing top Iranian \u200bleaders likely would result in retaliation against US military and diplomatic outposts.<\/p>\n

The administration did not order \u200bdepartures of diplomatic staff from several regional embassies until after the air strikes began.<\/p>\n

The community also warned that Iran \u201ccould\u201d widen its retaliation to American allies in the region, the source said. \u2013 Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israel\u2019s \u200cdefence minister Israel \u200bKatz said on \u200bTuesday \u2060that Iran\u2019s \u200csecurity \u200cchief Ali \u200bLarijani \u2060had \u200bbeen killed \u200bin…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":389444,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,10,11021,18,13,14,6,19,18929,17,71,11,12,14407,15,16,8820,117158,5,7,8,384,1545],"class_list":["post-389443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-conflict","tag-eire","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-headlines","tag-ie","tag-iran","tag-ireland","tag-israel","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-lebanon","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-middle-east","tag-mideast","tag-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-united-states","tag-war"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116244051793563874","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389443\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/389444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}