Tipsheet

Two Senior Iranian Officials Killed in Overnight Airstrike by Israeli Forces

Dmitri Bolt
Dmitri Bolt  |  March 17, 2026 11:00 AM

Two top Iranian commanders were killed Monday night in an Israeli airstrike, including Ali Larijani, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and General Gholamreza Soleimani, leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Basij paramilitary forces.

Larijani was killed only days after he slammed Operation Epic Fury and President Trump, claiming the military operation was running out of steam. 

“It’s clear they’re running out of steam,” Larijani said in an interview, “Trump’s problem is that he doesn’t understand that the Iranian nation is mature and determined.”

As for Soleimani, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) released a statement upon his death.

"Guided by precise intelligence from Military Intelligence, the Air Force conducted a targeted strike yesterday in the heart of Tehran, eliminating Gholam Reza Soleimani, commander of the Basij unit over the past six years," the IDF wrote on X. "The Basij forces constitute part of the armed forces of the Iranian terror regime. Amid the internal protests in Iran, and particularly in recent times with their escalation, the Basij forces under Soleimani's command led key suppression operations involving severe violence, widespread arrests, and the use of force against civilian protesters."

"Soleimani's elimination adds to the dozens of senior commanders from the armed forces of the Iranian terror regime who have been eliminated throughout the operation, and it represents another severe blow to the regime's security command and control systems," they added.

This comes as over 50 senior Iranian officials, including Ayatollah Khamenei, were killed in just over two weeks of joint military operations by the United States and Israel.