A new written message attributed to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, released by Iran after the killing of Ali Larijani
Iran's new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is sending a new written message paying tribute to Ali Larijani, whose funeral took place on Wednesday. Also, the country's president confirms the death of the minister of information.
The new supreme leader of Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei, on Wednesday, in a written message, paid tribute to the head of the country's security council, Ali Larijani, killed in an attack claimed by Israel, saying that his “killers” will have to “pay”, the Iranian news agency Tasnim reported, according to News.ro. It is the second message sent by the new supreme leader since he was elected, but still he did not appear in public.
“Without a doubt, the assassination of such a personality proves his importance and the hatred of the enemies of Islam towards him”, Mojtaba Khamenei reacted in this message transmitted by the Tasnim agency on the day of Ali Larijani's funeral in Tehran.
“Every blood spilled has its price, and the criminals who killed these martyrs will have to pay soon,” he added, referring to the other leaders killed in the attacks.
Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded his father in office more than a week ago, has not appeared in public since. His first public message was read a few days later on national television.
According to American and Israeli officials, he was “disfigured” and wounded in the leg in the attack that killed his father Ali Khamenei on February 28, triggering the war in the Middle East.
Ali Larijani's funeral took place in Tehran on Wednesday. He was Iran's top national security official and was killed in an Israeli strike on Tuesday. It is the most important assassination since the death of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the war.
Larijani was one of the country's most important decision-makers and is believed to have played a key role in cracking down on anti-regime protests in January, leading the transition that followed Khamenei's death.
Iranian television showed large crowds gathered in Tehran's Enghelab Square, waving the Iranian flag and carrying banners with the faces of Larijani and Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the country's Basij paramilitary force, who was also killed in an Israeli strike.
A large truck carried the coffins of Larijani and Soleimani through the crowded market, alongside those of dozens of Iranian sailors who were killed when their ship was torpedoed by the United States off the coast of Sri Lanka earlier this month.
🇮🇷⚡️– Massive presence of Iranians in Tehran's Enghelab Square for the funeral of Ali Larijani, Gholamreza Soleimani, sailors of the Dena ship. pic.twitter.com/nFbmRnVcw8
— MonitorX (@MonitorX99800) March 18, 2026
The president confirms the death of the minister of information
On the other hand, Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian confirmed on Wednesday the death of the Minister of Information, Esmail Khatib, whom Israel had announced earlier that he had killed in a “precision attack” in Tehran.
Iran's president has condemned what he called the “cowardly assassination” of some of his country's top officials in recent days, including Iran's Minister of Intelligence, Esmail Khatib.
“The cowardly assassination of my dear colleagues Esmail Khatib, (senior national security official), Ali Larijani and (Defense Minister) Aziz Nasirzadeh, along with some of their family members and the team accompanying them, has left us heartbroken,” Massoud Pezeshkian said in a post on X.
Israel killed Larijani in an airstrike on Tuesday, while Nasirzadeh was killed on the first day of US-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28.
“I convey my condolences to the great Iranian people for the martyrdom of two members of the cabinet, the secretary of the People's Assembly and the military and Basij commanders. I am sure that their path will continue stronger than before,” President Pezeshkian said.
