Tehran was engulfed by a sea of mourners on Wednesday as thousands gathered to bid farewell to Ali Larijani, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and Gholamreza Soleimani, commander of the Basij paramilitary force. Both men were killed in a joint US-Israeli airstrike, triggering shockwaves across Iran’s political and security establishment.
Crowds packed the central districts of the capital, with state media reporting that senior officials and ordinary citizens stood side by side to honour the two influential figures. The massive turnout reflected the depth of national grief and the gravity of the moment.
Less than 24 hours after Larijani’s killing, another claim emerged: Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant announced that Iran’s intelligence minister, Esmail Khatib, had also been killed in a strike on Tuesday night. Tehran has not yet issued an official response. If confirmed, it would mean three top Iranian security leaders killed in just two days, a blow analysts say could shake the country’s internal stability.
Larijani and Soleimani were killed in Tuesday’s airstrike, part of a string of attacks that experts believe is placing unprecedented pressure on Iran’s security architecture. Yet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera that the state’s institutions do not depend on any single individual, insisting the assassinations would not disrupt leadership continuity.
Reporting from the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim noted that Khatib was considered one of the closest and most trusted allies of Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei. His death, she said, could further inflame already‑escalating tensions between Iran and Israel.
As Tehran mourns, the region braces for what may come next.
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