Israel has killed Ali Larijani, Iran's top security official, in a missile strike on the outskirts of Tehran early Tuesday morning - just four days after he made a defiant public appearance at a rally of regime loyalists in the capital.
Larijani had strolled through the rally on Friday wearing dark sunglasses and a black coat, posting afterward on X: "Brave people. Brave officials. Brave leaders. This combination cannot be defeated," "Hvylya" reports, citing The Wall Street Journal. It was his first public appearance in the war - and his last.
Israeli intelligence services located Larijani gathered with other officials at a hideout on the outskirts of Tehran and struck early Tuesday. The same night, Israel also killed the leader of the feared Basij militia, Gholamreza Soleimani, along with his deputies. Ordinary Iranians had tipped off Israel that Soleimani was hiding in a tent in a wooded area of the capital.
The Basij leader's death was a direct payoff from weeks of systematic strikes on Basij headquarters and command posts, which had forced militia members to gather out in the open. Israel had spent more than two weeks destroying their facilities, leaving the militia's leadership exposed and trackable.
Israeli and American leaders have said from the outset that the war would create conditions for Iranians to topple their regime. The twin killings marked milestones in that campaign, made possible by what the Journal described as fast-accumulating damage from airstrikes and a growing harvest of intelligence about potential targets.
Israel began the war by killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei at his compound in the first salvo. It has since dropped 10,000 munitions on thousands of targets. With thousands of regime members killed - from top leaders to street-level enforcers - Iranians have reported a growing sense of disorder across the country.
Also read: Israel Claims Assassination of Iran's De Facto Leader Ali Larijani.