Iranian defence chief who issued sinister warning to Trump is killed in airstrike
Iranian defence chief who issued sinister warning to Trump is killed in airstrike
Ali Larijani, a senior Iranian official who had previously issued a chilling warning to Donald Trump, was killed in an Israeli airstrike late last night, as confirmed by Iran’s Defence Ministry.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) stated that Larijani was their intended target, while also noting that another strike eliminated the leader of the Basji paramilitary group.
The nation of Iran is not afraid of your empty threats. Even those bigger than you could not eliminate the Iranian nation. Watch yourselves, or you might be eliminated!
Larijani served on the interim leadership council that managed Iran’s political transition, determining the next leader following Ali Khamenei’s tenure. The Basji force, an all-volunteer unit under the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, was also targeted in the same strike. This group has historically been deployed to quell protests within the Islamic Republic.
General Gholam Reza Soleimani, a prominent figure in the Iranian military, was reported to have died in an airstrike on Monday, though Iran initially withheld official confirmation of his death.
The Israeli military described the Basji forces as an integral part of the Iranian terror regime’s military apparatus, highlighting their role in violently suppressing uprisings, particularly during recent periods of intensified demonstrations.
The US Treasury records Soleimani’s birth year as 1965. He has been sanctioned by multiple international entities, including the US and the European Union, for his involvement in suppressing dissent through the Basji over the years.
Successor’s survival and secret evacuation
Mojtaba Khamenei, the eldest son of the former Ayatollah, was declared the successor to Soleimani last week. However, he was critically injured in a US airstrike and reportedly rushed to Russia for emergency leg surgery.
According to Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida, Khamenei was secretly extracted from a bunker strike that killed his wife, mother, father, and son. He was then flown out of Iran aboard a Russian military aircraft.
The covert operation took Khamenei to Moscow, where he allegedly underwent a ‘successful’ procedure at one of Vladimir Putin’s presidential residences. Reports vary on the severity of his injuries, ranging from minor facial cuts and a fractured foot to the potential loss of a leg or even a coma.
Iran later reaffirmed Khamenei’s survival, responding to Trump’s claim that he had heard the newly chosen supreme leader was ‘not’ alive.
Following the incident, Khamenei released a fiery statement demanding vengeance against the US and its allies, underscoring the ongoing tensions in the region.
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