Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz claimed Tuesday that Iran's top security official, Ali Larijani, was killed in overnight airstrikes, along with the commander of Tehran's Basij paramilitary force.
The killing of Larijani, if confirmed by Tehran, would represent the highest-profile assassination since the killing of Iran's former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other leaders during the wave of U.S.-Israeli strikes that started the war on Feb. 28.
Katz said that he had been informed by Israel's military chief that Larijani and the head of Iran's Basij paramilitary force Gholamreza Soleimani "were eliminated last night."
He said the two leaders "have joined Khamenei, the head of the annihilation program, along with all those eliminated from the axis of evil in the depths of hell."
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a photo of the premier on the phone, captioned: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders the elimination of senior figures in the Iranian regime."
Israel's military had announced earlier it had killed Basij chief Soleimani "in a precise strike in Tehran."
"Yesterday (Monday), the Israeli Air Force, acting on IDF intelligence, targeted and eliminated Gholamreza Soleimani, who operated as commander of the Basij unit for the past six years," it said.
The Basij, a volunteer force under Iran's Revolutionary Guards, "led the main repression operations" by the authorities during recent mass protests in Iran, the Israeli army claimed.
Iran was rocked by unprecedented anti-government protests that peaked in January.
They were met with a crackdown in which, according to rights groups, thousands of people were killed and tens of thousands arrested.
Israel's military chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said "significant preventive achievements were recorded overnight" in a statement released earlier by the military.
