Farsi-language Telegram channels are amplifying claims from Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz that Iranian official Ali Larijani has been assassinated. Iranian state media has denied the reports, prompting mockery from opposition-leaning channels over the state's history of covering up high-profile deaths.
Following the massive wave of Israeli strikes on Iranian targets that began on March 16, Farsi-language Telegram channels are circulating conflicting reports regarding the fate of senior Iranian official Ali Larijani. Multiple channels are amplifying claims that Israel has successfully assassinated Larijani, while Iranian state media has issued a swift denial.
According to اخبارفوری خبرفوری جنگ امریکا فوری, an urgent alert announced a statement from Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declaring: "Ali Larijani was assassinated!" The opposition-leaning channel جوانان ایران echoed this, attributing a direct quote to Katz stating, "We assassinated Ali Larijani."
The claims were widely aggregated across the platform, including by the sports and news channel فوتبالی| اخبار و خبر ورزشی سه. The channel reported that "Israel's war room also confirmed the news of Ali Larijani's killing," citing both the Israeli Defense Minister and the opposition network Iran International as primary sources. The unlinked channel خبری پلاس|خبرفوری 🔖فوری also carried the brief announcement of the alleged assassination.
In response to the rapidly spreading reports, the state-aligned Iranian Fars News Agency denied that the assassination took place, according to اخبارفوری خبرفوری جنگ امریکا فوری. However, the credibility of this official denial is being heavily targeted by government critics. جوانان ایران dismissed the official counter-narrative by mockingly referring to Fars News Agency as "the denier of the news of Raisi and Nasrallah's deaths," highlighting a perceived track record of Iranian state media initially covering up the deaths of prominent figures.
The sources show a clear split between official state media lines (Fars News Agency) and opposition/aggregator channels, leveraging past events (the deaths of Ebrahim Raisi and Hassan Nasrallah) to undermine the state's current denial. The English translation preserves the mocking tone used by the opposition channel.