Israel says two top Iranian officials killed in strikes

Israel’s defense minister said Iran’s top security official and the leader of the Revolutionary Guard’s Basij militia was killed in airstrikes against the country’s leadership.

Israel Katz said in a statement that both security official Ali Larijani and General Gholam Reza Soleimani were “eliminated last night.”

Iranian state media did not immediately confirm either death.

Israel has already killed dozens of leading figures in Iran’s power apparatus in the current war. Religious Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli air strike in Tehran on February 28.

The Israeli army said Soleimani was killed in the attack on Monday.

In its statement, the Israeli army said, “Basij forces are part of the armed apparatus of the Iranian terrorist regime.”

“During internal protests in Iran, especially during the recent intensification of demonstrations, Basij forces under Soleimani led the main repression operations, using severe violence, widespread arrests, and force against civilian demonstrators.”

Via Reuters and DPA