Netanyahu confirms Larijani killed in Israeli airstrikes, says it gives Iranians chance to overthrow rulers

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Courtesy: Reuters photo)

• Netanyahu: Larijani's death aids Iranians in changing rulers
• Israel claims strikes killed key Iranian and Palestinian leaders
• Strikes impact several Middle Eastern nations amid tensions

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Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, on Tuesday said the killing of Tehran's national security chief Ali Larijani was part of efforts to give Iranians a chance to remove their rulers.

"This morning we eliminated Ali Larijani, the boss of the Revolutionary Guards, which is the gang of gangsters that actually runs Iran," Netanyahu said in a televised statement.

He said the overthrow of the clerical authorities by Iranians "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."

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."

It comes less than three weeks after US-Israeli strikes on February 28 killed Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader since 1989, triggering a regional war with global repercussions.

It also comes weeks after a massive popular movement against the Islamic republic was crushed by authorities, with rights groups reporting thousands killed in the crackdown.

Larijani’s role in Iran’s power structure

Larijani, 68, has been described as a key pillar in the ruling system, close to the late ayatollah and central to the government's nuclear policy and strategic diplomacy over decades.

After the war broke out, he became even more powerful. While the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has not been seen in public since he was appointed to replace his slain father, Larijani walked with crowds at a pro-government rally last week in Tehran.

Strikes widen across the region

The reported assassination comes as strikes shook countries across the Middle East on Tuesday, from Gulf nations to Iraq, Lebanon and Iran.

Israel also said Tuesday it had killed Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij paramilitary force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, in a strike in Tehran.

And it said it had targeted Akram al-Ajouri, head of the military wing of the group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in a strike in Iran, though he was not confirmed dead.