Top Iranian security official Ali Larijani and the commander of Iran’s internal Basij militia, Gholamreza Soleimani, have been killed, Iran’s state media confirmed hours after Israel claimed to have killed the two.
In a statement carried by Iran’s semi-official Mehr news, the country’s Supreme National Security Council confirmed the assassination of its secretary, Larijani.
Later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “We are undermining this regime in the hope of giving the Iranian people an opportunity to remove it.”
The Israeli statements came after a night of heavy bombardment in Tehran interspersed with the sound of thunder.
But shortly after Katz’s statement, Larijani’s social media accounts posted an undated, handwritten note that state media said was written on Tuesday.
The note praises the 84 “warriors” of the Iranian navy who were killed in a US submarine attack on their warship off the coast of Sri Lanka this month. Iran is preparing to hold a ceremony to honour the sailors on Tuesday evening.