'Sweet grace of martyrdom': Iran confirms death of national security chief Ali Larijani in Israeli air strike

Larijani was killed by a US-Israeli air attack as he was visiting his daughter in the eastern outskirts of a Tehran suburb

Iran has confirmed the death of its powerful national security chief, Ali Larijani, after Israel on Tuesday said he was killed in an air strike and vowed to hunt down and "neutralise" Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

The death of Larijani represents 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 the war in West Asia.

Larijani, 67, was killed by a US-Israeli air attack as he was visiting his daughter in the eastern outskirts of a Tehran suburb, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency said on Tuesday.

"After a lifetime of struggle for the advancement of Iran and of the Islamic Revolution, he ultimately attained his long-held aspiration, answered the divine call, and honourably achieved the sweet grace of martyrdom in the trench of service," Iran's Supreme National Security Council announced.

Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said earlier on Tuesday that he had been killed in an Israeli strike.

As per the statement from Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Larijani was killed along with his son Morteza Larijani and the head of his office, Alireza Bayat, as well as several guards, Associated Press reported.

After the US-Israeli strikes began on February 28, Larijani was one of the first major Iranian figures to speak, accusing Iran's attackers of seeking to disintegrate and plunder the country. He also issued stern warnings against any would-be protesters.

The assassination came as Iran's Parliament Speaker vowed that shipping in the Strait of Hormuz would not return to its pre-war norm, and US President Donald Trump blasted allies for rebuffing his call to help escort oil tankers through the blockaded waterway.

Larijani, who was close to the late ayatollah, had helped lead Iran's retaliatory campaign in the war.

As chief nuclear negotiator from 2005 to 2007, Larijani was responsible for defending what Tehran says is its right to enrich uranium — a process required to make fuel for a nuclear power plant but which can also yield material for a warhead.

As Parliament Speaker from 2008 to 2020 he had a role in ensuring that a nuclear deal with six world powers in 2015 would meet the requirements of sceptical Iranian hardliners. Trump withdrew the US from the hard-negotiated agreement during his first term, in 2018.

(With agency inputs)