‘A Severe Revenge Awaits’: Iran Issues Stark Warning After Security Chief Larijani’s Death

Senior Iranian leaders have issued high-level tributes following the killing of Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, who died in a military strike carried out by Israeli and US forces, according to state broadcaster Press TV.

Larijani was killed late on Monday alongside his son Morteza Larijani and his SNSC deputy Alireza Bayat. Several security personnel also lost their lives in the incident.

In a formal condolence message, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian expressed deep grief over the loss, describing Larijani as a "virtuous, precious, and dear brother".

The president remarked that the late official was an "outstanding and valuable figure who, throughout the era of the Islamic Republic, served in various capacities, yielding extensive and diverse results".

Pezeshkian highlighted their professional history together in the Islamic Consultative Assembly and Larijani's recent leadership at the security council, stating that he "witnessed nothing but goodwill, keen insight, companionship, and foresight from him".

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According to Press TV, the president noted the difficulty of replacing such a figure, suggesting that the manner of his death was a "reward for his lifelong struggle and the fulfilment of a long-held wish".

He added that while Larijani's "blood was spilled by the most criminal regime in human history", being placed among the figures of the revolution was his "merit and the long-held wish of this dear brother."

Pezeshkian further characterised Larijani as "an outstanding example of those nurtured in the school of Imam Khomeini, Imam Khamenei, and the great master of the Islamic Revolution, Martyr Murtaza Motahhari".

Reflecting on Larijani's final role, the president stated that he "exerted his utmost effort to expand peace and security in the region and foster empathy and strengthen brotherhood among Islamic nations".

He argued that Larijani had developed an "international persona in the arena of international security and resistance, becoming a target of the spite of the terrorist Zionist regime".

What Revenge Did Iran Promise After Ali Larijani’s Killing?

Press TV reported that a stern warning was issued to those behind the attack, with Pezeshkian declaring that "undoubtedly, a severe revenge awaits the terrorist criminals who have stained their foul hands with the blood of the innocent".

He added that the nation’s path would continue and that a "definitive victory awaits the great nation of Iran".

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf also paid tribute, stating that such an end "is a garment that does not fit everybody".

He described it as "an art that distinguishes the men of God, who are true and steadfast to their covenants, from others. It is the ultimate blessedness and the aspiration of all fighters on the path of truth."

Qalibaf remembered Larijani as an "indefatigable fighter and a soldier in love with his homeland", noting his history as a "courageous Speaker of three terms of the Islamic Consultative Assembly".

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He described the killing as "another golden leaf in the honours of the martyr-nurturing movement of the Great Imam Khomeini" and said the path of the revolution "does not stop with assassination and will continue until the destruction of the front of disbelief and hypocrisy".

Judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei also issued a tribute, stating that Larijani "received from God Almighty the reward for his long years of struggle" by "drinking the sweet nectar of martyrdom".

Press TV reported that Ejei praised Larijani's "high managerial and decision-making capacity, courage and eloquence in speech", and his "sacrifice and steadfastness in the path of the ideals and values of the Islamic Revolution".

He added that the Iranian military, backed by public support, would "exact revenge for the pure blood of this dear martyr" from what he described as "the criminal America and the barbaric Zionist regime".

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps described Larijani’s killing as a "source of national awakening", according to reports cited by Al Jazeera.

How Did the IRGC Describe Ali Larijani’s Role and Legacy?

Citing Iran’s Tasnim news agency, Al Jazeera reported that the IRGC called Larijani a "distinguished figure, thinker [and] revolutionary politician" and said that the "pure blood of this great martyr, like other dear martyrs, will be a source of honour, strength, and national awakening".

Meanwhile, Israel’s military escalation in West Asia intensified after the Israel Defense Forces confirmed that it had eliminated Larijani and Basij commander Gholamreza Soleimani in a series of overnight strikes on Tehran.

In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the operation, saying, "This morning, we eliminated Ali Larijani," and described him as a central figure in Iran’s ruling establishment with close ties to its military apparatus.

Netanyahu said Israel was conducting aerial operations deep inside Iranian territory aimed at weakening the regime and creating conditions for internal change.

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"Ali Larijani is the boss of the Revolutionary Guards, that group of gangsters that effectively runs Iran. Alongside him, we also eliminated the commander of the Basij - they are the gangsters' assistants who are terrorising the population in the streets of Tehran and other Iranian cities,” he said.

“We are operating there as well, operating from the air with Air Force jets and UAVs. We are undermining this regime in the hope of giving the Iranian people an opportunity to remove it," he added.

He stated that he had spoken with US President Donald Trump and that Israeli and American forces were cooperating through both direct and indirect means against Iran.

"It will not happen all at once, and it will not happen easily. But if we persist, we will give them the chance to take their destiny into their own hands,” he said.

“At the same time, we are helping our American friends in the Gulf. I spoke at length with President Trump on this matter yesterday. There is cooperation between our air forces and navies and between President Trump and his staff and me,” he added.

“We will assist both through indirect attacks, which create immense pressure on the Iranian regime, and through direct actions. There are many more surprises. 'By stratagems, you shall make war.' We will not reveal all the stratagems here, but as I told you, there are many," Netanyahu said.

In separate statements on X, the IDF said Larijani had been "one of the most veteran and senior figures within the Iranian regime leadership" and a close associate of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

It also confirmed that Soleimani, who led the Basij unit for six years, had overseen "repression operations" involving arrests and use of force against demonstrators.

(With inputs from ANI)