Checkmate? Iran's 'de facto leader' and top oppressor killed
The Times of Israel Daily Briefing
The Times of Israel
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 17 March 2026
⏱️ 32 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.
Military correspondent Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
This morning, the IDF confirmed killing Basij paramilitary force commander Gholamreza Soleimani in a strike in Iran overnight. Soleimani was targeted while at a tent camp that was recently established by the Basij. And just after recording time, the IDF also confirmed that top Iranian official Ali Larijani was killed in an airstrike in Iran overnight. Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s National Security Council, was targeted by the Israeli Air Force in the capital Tehran.
We learn from Fabian what else Israel is targeting in its current waves of strikes on Iran, including the entire chain of weapons manufacturing.
We then turn to Lebanon, where the IDF is currently pushing even more forces deeper into southern Lebanon to create an expanded buffer zone, as Hezbollah attacked towns in northern Israel with rockets and drones.
In the second half, Fabian relates a bizarre and disturbing saga that he was swept up into concerning menacing Polymarket gamblers who threatened ToI's military correspondent and his family over a report that did not work in their bet's favor.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
Iran’s new supreme leader purportedly issues fresh statement as questions linger over his health
IDF pushes deeper into south Lebanon as Hezbollah keeps up fire at northern Israel
Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Gabriella Jacobs and edited by Ari Schlacht.
IMAGE: Members of Iranian paramilitary forces (Basij) during an anti-Israeli rally in Tehran, January 10, 2025. (AFP)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Times of Israel's daily briefing. |
| 0:06.9 | Today is Tuesday, March 17th. |
| 0:09.2 | I'm Amanda Borchelle Dan here in Jerusalem with our military correspondent, Emmanuel Fabian. |
| 0:14.5 | Many, thank you so much for joining me today. |
| 0:16.5 | Hi, Amanda. |
| 0:17.0 | We have a lot to discuss. |
| 0:18.8 | We're going to talk about targeted strikes on Iranian officials. We're going to talk about the targeted strikes on Iranian officials. |
| 0:22.6 | We're going to talk about what's happening in Lebanon. And in the second half of the program, |
| 0:27.1 | we're actually going to talk about Manny, Manny's Adventures with Polly Market. So all of this and more when we're back. |
| 0:44.0 | Thank you. and more when we're back. When war is erupting, how do Israeli families and communities live with constant loss? |
| 0:50.1 | When you think about the many sacrifices made in these two, two and a half years, |
| 0:55.4 | how do you make sense of sacrifice? |
| 0:58.3 | On the latest episode of texting IRL, Alana Steinhain and Hartman Research Fellow David Dishon |
| 1:03.9 | turned to the book of Vajikra and to David's experience as a bereaved grandparent of a soldier killed in the Israel-Hamas war. |
| 1:12.0 | Together they discuss sacrifice, grief, and spiritual resilience. |
| 1:16.4 | Everybody who's risking their life is risking their life for something that they believe |
| 1:20.6 | is greater than their own life. |
| 1:24.1 | Listen to Vaikra, living with sacrifice and closeness in the shadow of war, on texting IRL from the Shalom Harman Institute, wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 1:35.7 | And we're back. I am Amanda Borsal Dan here in our Jerusalem office with military correspondent Emmanuel Fabian. |
| 1:42.5 | Mani, we have just heard word of targeted strikes against |
| 1:45.9 | Iranian officials today and in the past several days. So what can you tell us of the most recent |
| 1:52.1 | headlines right now? So we're hearing from the IDF this morning that it carried out strikes |
... |
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