Ari Larijani, head of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, was killed in an overnight strike Tuesday (March 17), days after warning President Donald Trump to "watch out for yourself -- lest you be eliminated," Israel's defense minister Israel Katz announced via the New York Post.

The Israel Defense Forces also announced that Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, head of the Revolutionary Guard's all-volunteer Basij force, was killed in a "targeted strike" on Tehran in a post shared on X.

“Larijani and the Basij commander were eliminated last night,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said, “and have joined [Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei, the head of the annihilation program, along with all those eliminated from the axis of evil in the depths of hell.”

Larijani, 67, was appointed to advise late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on strategy in nuclear talks with the Trump administration prior to Khamenei's killing at the start of 'Operation Epic Fury' on February 28, on top of his role on Iran's top security body. The official joined Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Tehran on Friday (March 13) for the annual pro-Palestinian Quds Day holiday when he gave the public warning to Trump.

“It’s clear they’re running out of steam,” Larijani told a television interviewer while discussing the U.S. and Israel's ongoing 'Operation Epic Fury' via the New York Post. “Trump’s problem is that he doesn’t understand that the Iranian nation is mature and determined.”

Larijani was among 10 Islamic Republic officials with a $10 million bounty placed on his head by the State Department's Rewards for Justice program on Friday and had been sanctioned by the Treasury Department as Tehran suppressed nationwide protests, which resulted in thousands of deaths, in January.

“Larijani was one of the first Iranian leaders to call for violence in response to the legitimate demands of the Iranian people,” the Treasury Department said, identifying him as “responsible for coordinating the response to the protests on behalf of the supreme leader of Iran.”

The WHO Morning News with Jeff Angelo