WANA (Mar 18) – In an official statement, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretariat confirmed the assassination of Ali Larijani, a member of the Expediency Discernment Council and one of the Islamic Republic’s most veteran political figures.

 

In its message, the Secretariat described Larijani as a “righteous servant of God” and a “fighter for the elevation of Iran and the Islamic Revolution,” announcing that he was killed in the early hours of the holy month of Ramadan during an attack that also claimed the lives of several of his companions.

 

According to the statement, Morteza Larijani, his son, as well as Alireza Bayat, the deputy security chief of the Supreme National Security Council Secretariat, and a number of accompanying bodyguards, were also killed in the attack.

 

The Secretariat emphasized that Ali Larijani remained active until the final moments of his life in pursuit of “Iran’s dignity and development,” and had consistently stressed the importance of domestic cohesion and unity between officials and the public in the face of what the statement described as a “bloodthirsty enemy.”

 

In the statement, Larijani was portrayed not merely as a political official, but as an ideological figure closely tied to the hard core of power in the Islamic Republic — a man who, after years of serving in some of the regime’s most sensitive positions, has now “joined his martyred comrades.”

 

Given Larijani’s long record within the Islamic Republic’s power structure — from heading IRIB and serving as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, to becoming speaker of parliament and a member of the Expediency Discernment Council — his assassination may carry consequences far beyond the elimination of a single political figure.

 

He was among the few figures with direct and influential experience across national security, foreign policy, and high-level domestic governance. For that reason, his killing is likely to be seen not merely as a personal loss for the establishment, but as a symbolic blow to one of the Islamic Republic’s oldest and most layered political figures — a man who, over the past two decades, repeatedly emerged at critical moments as an intermediary, decision-maker, or behind-the-scenes operator.