Ali Larijani had emerged as a key figure in Iran’s political structure and war-time leader after the U.S. and Israel killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said the assassination of Ali Larijani, Secretary of Supreme National Security Council, by Israel will not destabilise Iran’s political system, even as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) vowed “definite revenge”.
“I do not know why the Americans and the Israelis still have not understood this point: The Islamic Republic of Iran has a strong political structure with established political, economic, and social institutions,” Mr. Araghchi told Al Jazeera, after Tehran on Tuesday (March 17, 2026) confirmed that Larijani was killed.
Mr. Araghchi was the chief negotiator with the U.S. before America and Israel launched the war on February 28
Larijani’s son Mortaza and his deputy Alireza Bayat were also killed in the strike. In a separate attack, Gholamreza Soleimani, commander of the Basij paramilitary forces, was also killed.
Larijani had emerged as a key figure in Iran’s political structure and war-time leader after the U.S. and Israel killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several other top leaders in the February 28 strike.
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“The presence or absence of a single individual does not affect this structure,” said Mr. Araghchi. “Of course, individuals are influential, and each person plays their role – some better, some worse, some less – but what matters is that the political system in Iran is a very solid structure.”
He added that the assassination of Ali Khamenei had little impact on the system. “We have not had anyone more important than the leader himself, and even the leader was martyred, yet the system continued its work and immediately provided a replacement,” he said. “If anyone else is martyred, it will be the same.”
The IRGC, in a statement expressing condolences, said “the blood of the esteemed martyr would serve as a source of strength and national alertness in the face of the global arrogance and international Zionism.”
“The Corps will definitely not omit to avenge the esteemed martyr and the other martyrs of Iran’s Sacred Defence” against the adversaries,” it added.
Iran also launched a new wave of missile and drone attacks at Israel and Persian Gulf kingdoms after Larijani’s killing was announced. The IRGC “has struck more than 100 targets in the city of Tel Aviv in retaliation for the martyrdom of Dr. Ali Larijani,” the Guards said in a statement.
“In addition to Tel Aviv, it has targeted sensitive and strategic enemy objects in the holy occupied city of al-Quds, the occupied port of Haifa, Be’er Sheva, which serves as the regime’s technological epicenter, and the Negev Desert,” it added.
Published – March 18, 2026 12:54 pm IST
