This is The Guardian.

There's actually an argument to say that his death is even more significant than that of

Hamanai because he really was this kind of central figure who was doing a lot of the work behind the scenes.

The Israeli Defence Minister now confirms that Iran's top security official, Ali Larry Gianni,

has been killed in an overnight strike in Tehran.

It does sort of suggest this idea that regime change and the kind of total destruction of the

old guard of the Iranian leadership is something that is on Israel's mind.

Israel claims it's killed Iran's national security chief in overnight strikes

in what could be a devastating blow for the Iranian regime.

From the Guardians today in focus, this is the latest with me, Lucy Hoff.

I'm joined by Devakab Bat, the Guardian's deputy head of international news.

Thanks for joining us again, Devika. It's lovely to see you.

So Israel is claiming that Iran's security chief Ali Larajani has been killed overnight in strikes.

I mean, this is the most senior Iranian official to be killed since Ayatollah Ali Hamana two weeks ago, isn't it? And he was a very

significant figure in the Iranian regime. Yeah, that's right. Thank you for having me, Lucy.

Yes, he was an incredibly senior figure, a sort of pivotal

figure within the sort of Iranian political and security apparatus. And there's actually an

argument to say that, you know, his death is even more significant than that of Harmonyi, because

he really was this kind of central figure who was doing a lot of the work behind the scenes

is what we sort of believe.

Yeah.

And playing a key role in the war operations, but also with close links to the IRGC.

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