Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the assassination of senior Iranian figures Ali Larijani and Basij head Gholamreza Soleimani in Israeli airstrikes inside Iran. In video messages directed at the Iranian public, Netanyahu stated the strikes aimed to weaken the regime and secure the streets for Iranians celebrating the Chaharshanbe Suri fire festival.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israeli military forces assassinated Ali Larijani and Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Basij, during airstrikes inside Iran. The announcements were heavily amplified by Iran International, a UK-based Persian news network known for its strong opposition to the Iranian government, and Vahid Online, a prominent anti-regime citizen journalist channel.
According to an Israeli television broadcast shared by Vahid Online, Netanyahu stated that Israel had eliminated Ali Larijani, whom he explicitly identified as the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), describing the organization as the mafia of mafias. In parallel statements reported by Iran International, Netanyahu described the IRGC and the Basij as criminal gangs that run Iran and terrorize the public in the streets of Tehran and other cities. The Prime Minister confirmed that the Israeli Air Force is operating actively inside Iran, using fighter jets and drones to target these commanders and their aides.
The military action was explicitly linked to the Iranian calendar's year-end festivities. In a video message directed at the Iranian public, Netanyahu stated that Israeli aircraft were actively targeting terrorist operatives in city squares and intersections to ensure the brave people of Iran could safely celebrate Chaharshanbe Suri, the traditional festival of fire. "Happy Nowruz, we are watching over you from above," Netanyahu declared, according to Iran International.
Netanyahu framed the assassinations as part of a broader strategy to assist the Iranian populace in overthrowing the Islamic Republic. While acknowledging that toppling the regime will not happen at once or easily, he emphasized that Israel's persistent actions aim to weaken the government and grant the Iranian people the opportunity to take their destiny into their own hands, as noted by both Vahid Online and Iran International.
Netanyahu explicitly refers to Ali Larijani as the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in these statements, a claim faithfully translated here despite Larijani historically serving in other high-level political roles (such as Speaker of the Parliament) rather than as the IRGC commander.