Iran vows to avenge killing of security chief who taunted Trump as US targets missile sites near Strait of Hormuz
The head of Iran’s army has threatened to launch “decisive and regrettable” retaliation following the killing of Ali Larijani.
Iran has vowed to inflict revenge on Israel after its top security official was killed in an airstrike.
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Ali Larijani, one of the country’s most powerful figures, died on Tuesday alongside his son and his deputy, Alireza Bayat, following Israeli strikes.
The head of Iran’s army has threatened to launch “decisive and regrettable” retaliation following the security chief’s killing.
“Iran’s response to the assassination of the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council will be decisive and regrettable,” Amir Hatami said on Wednesday.
It comes as an elderly couple were killed in strikes on Tel Aviv overnight, as Iranian missiles rained down on the Israeli city.
Iran said it had launched the attack “in revenge for the blood of martyr Dr Ali Larijani and his companions”.
Arab Gulf states were also been targeted by Iranian missiles and drones in renewed attacks.
Read more: Iranian security chief Ali Larijani killed, state media confirms
Iran's Supreme National Security Council confirmed Larijani's death on state television last night.
“After a lifetime of striving for the elevation of Iran and the Islamic Revolution, he [Larijani] finally reached his long-cherished wish, answered the call of truth, and proudly attained the blessed rank of martyrdom in the service front," the statement read.
No additional details have been given about the circumstances of their deaths.
Larijani's demise marks the killing of the most senior Iranian official by Israel since the assassination of supreme leader Ali Khamenei at the beginning of the conflict.
The secretary of the Supreme National Security Council was the centre of decision-making on war, diplomacy, and national security.
The influential figure was one of several Iranian chiefs to publicly taunt President Trump and Israel during an annual anti-Israeli Quds Day rally last week.
Iran had previously dismissed reports of Larijani's death, even releasing a handwritten letter to Iranian troops after Israel asserted he had been killed in an IDF strike.
Gholam Reza Soleimani, the head of the Basij volunteer paramilitary force that Iran uses to crush civilian protests, was also killed in strikes on Tuesday.
Israel said his death was “an additional significant blow to the regime’s security command-and-control structures.”
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirmed Soleimani was killed but did not provide further details.
It said on Tuesday those responsible would face retaliation, warning pro-Iranian forces would continue their “path of resistance” and avenge his death.
Hours ago, U.S. forces successfully employed multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions on hardened Iranian missile sites along Iran’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles in these sites posed a risk to international shipping in the… pic.twitter.com/hgCSFH0cqO
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 17, 2026
Meanwhile, the US military said it has hit Iranian missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz with powerful bombs capable of penetrating bunkers.
US Central Command wrote on X that US forces "successfully employed multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions on hardened Iranian missile sites" along strait's Iranian coastline.
"The Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles in these sites posed a risk to international shipping in the strait," it said.
An Iranian blockade on the vital shipping route has sent global oil prices spiralling.
On Tuesday, Sir Keir Starmer announced a £53 million package of support for “vulnerable” heating oil customers as pressure mounts on global fuel supplies due to the the closure of the strait - which 20% of the world's oil shipments transit through.