Israel vows to find and ‘neutralise’ Iran’s new supreme leader

2026-03-17 - 20:04

Israel’s military on Tuesday vowed to hunt down and “neutralise” Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, after saying it had killed the Islamic republic’s powerful national security chief in an airstrike. If confirmed, the death of Ali Larijani would represent a major blow to Iran, whose long-serving leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed less than three weeks ago in US-Israeli strikes that ignited a war in the Middle East. The reported assassination came as Iran’s speaker vowed that shipping in the Strait of Hormuz would not return to its pre-war norm, and Donald Trump blasted allies for rebuffing his call to help escort oil tankers through the blockaded waterway. Tehran has not confirmed the death of Larijani, described as a key figure close to the late ayatollah, but urged Iranians across the country to rally Tuesday in a show of defiance against enemy “plots”. Israel’s military vowed it would also eliminate Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late ayatollah who took power after his father’s death on February 28. “We don’t know about Mojtaba Khamenei, we don’t hear him, we don’t see him, but I can tell you one thing: we will track him down, find him, and neutralise him,” military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin told reporters. – ‘Right hand man’ – In a televised statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Larijani as “the boss of the Revolutionary Guards, which is the gang of gangsters that actually runs Iran”. He said the overthrow of Iran’s authorities by the people “will not happen all at once, it will not happen easily. But if we persist in this — we will give them a chance to take their fate into their own hands.” While Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public since he was appointed, Larijani, 68, walked with crowds at a pro-government rally last week in Tehran. “He has effectively been the figure in charge of the regime’s survival, its regional policy and its defence strategy,” David Khalfa, co-founder of the Atlantic Middle East Forum, told AFP. “It’s the supreme leader who gives the order, but he is the one who carries it out. He is the right-hand man.” Shortly after Israel said it had killed him, Larijani’s official social media profiles posted a handwritten note by him paying tribute to Iranian sailors killed in a US submarine attack this month. The note was not dated, nor did