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Israel says two top Iranian officials killed in strikes

By AAP Newswire

Mar 17, 2026

Iran's security chief Ali Larijani has been killed in an air strike, Israel claims. -EPA

Iran's top security official and the head of the Revolutionary Guard's Basij militia were both killed in air strikes in a blow to the country's leadership, Israel's defence minister says.

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Both security official Ali Larijani and General Gholam Reza Soleimani were "eliminated last night," Israel Katz said in a statement.

Iranian state media did not immediately confirm either death.

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

The Israeli military said a strike on Monday had killed Soleimani.

"The Basij forces are part of the armed apparatus of the Iranian terror regime," the Israeli military said in its statement.

"During internal protests in Iran, particularly in recent periods as demonstrations intensified, Basij forces under Soleimani's command led the main repression operations, employing severe violence, widespread arrests and the use of force against civilian demonstrators."

with Reuters and DPA