After Larijani assassination, who's holding the wheel in Iran?
The Times of Israel Daily Briefing
The Times of Israel
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 18 March 2026
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.
Diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
An elderly couple, identified as Yaron and Ilana Moshe, were killed early Wednesday morning in Ramat Gan by a cluster missile as Iran continued to fire salvoes at Israel through the night and into the morning. From midnight to 8 a.m., there were four rounds of missile fire that caused injuries and damage to property.
Iran confirmed on Tuesday that Israel had assassinated overnight Ali Larijani, one of the most important Iranian officials still alive. Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s National Security Council, was the regime’s key figure after the assassination of supreme leader Ali Khamenei by Israel on February 28. Berman weighs in on his significance and how this may affect the regime moving forward.
US President Donald Trump on Monday accused allies of showing low “enthusiasm” for the coalition he proposed to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most vital route for oil tankers. Berman discusses the different responses from NATO allies, China and India.
And finally, we speak about the blowback that Trump is facing within his own MAGA movement after director of the US National Counterterrorism Center Joe Kent's dramatic resignation letter.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
Ramat Gan couple in their 70s killed by Iranian cluster missile
Larijani’s death removes key pillar of regime. Will it be enough to make Iran collapse?
Ali Larijani was hardline voice in Iran’s regime for decades, with supreme leader’s ear
Pro-regime crowds gather in Iran as authorities seek to squelch potential protests on Nowruz
Trump slams allies’ low ‘enthusiasm’ for his proposed coalition to open Hormuz
Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. Yitzhak Ledee produced this episode and Ari Schlacht edited.
IMAGE: Mourners attend the funeral procession for senior Iranian military officials and civilians killed during the US-Israel campaign as a portrait of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, son and successor of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is seen at center, in Tehran, Iran, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Times of Israel's daily briefing. |
| 0:06.7 | Today is Wednesday, March 18th. |
| 0:08.9 | I'm Amanda Borssel Dan here in a Jerusalem studio with diplomatic correspondent, Laser Barman. |
| 0:14.3 | Laser, thank you so much for joining me today. |
| 0:16.1 | Happy to be here, as always. |
| 0:17.6 | I am always glad to speak with you, and we have a lot to talk about after the |
| 0:21.4 | assassination of our Ali Larzani yesterday in Iran. How can the regime recover from this? |
| 0:28.4 | Can it continue? How will it continue? Laser will fill us in. We're also going to discuss |
| 0:33.2 | blowback that U.S. President Donald Trump is facing from allies and from within his own |
| 0:38.5 | Maida movement. So all of this and more when we're back. |
| 0:46.5 | When war is erupting, how do Israeli families and communities live with constant loss? |
| 0:56.6 | When you think about the many sacrifices made in these two, two and a half years, how do you make sense of sacrifice? |
| 1:04.7 | On the latest episode of texting IRL, Alana Stein Hain and Hartman Research Fellow David Dishon turned to the book of Vajikra and to David's |
| 1:13.2 | experience as a bereaved grandparent of a soldier killed in the Israel-Khamas war. |
| 1:18.4 | Together they discuss sacrifice, grief, and spiritual resilience. |
| 1:22.9 | Everybody who's risking their life is risking their life for something that they believe |
| 1:27.1 | is greater than |
| 1:29.2 | their own life. Listen to Vaikra, living with sacrifice and closeness in the shadow of war, |
| 1:35.1 | on texting IRL from the Shalom Harman Institute, wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 1:41.6 | This episode is brought to you by Jewish Communal Fund, the preferred donor-advised fund of the Jewish |
| 1:47.2 | community for over 50 years. Charitable giving should be impactful and efficient. That's why many |
| 1:53.5 | people choose to give through a JCF donor-advised fund. A donor-advised fund is like a personal, |
... |
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