'Martyrs Make Iran Stronger': Larijani's Message To US, Israel Before Death

Days before his assassination, Ali Larijani, the late secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, had warned the US and Israel that killing Iranian leaders would only strengthen the country. Veteran Iranian politician Larijani was one of the most powerful figures in the Islamic Republic, an architect of its security policy, and a close adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei until the supreme leader died in an airstrike last month.

Over a week before his death on March 6, the 67-year-old leader spoke to Al Jazeera, where he reiterated Ali Khamenei's words and said, "Martyrs make the revolution stronger."

"After the operation they carried out against Ayatollah Khamenei, which also killed a number of our commanders. It's not as though anyone that important has been killed since. You see, Ayatollah Khamenei, the leader of this country, was martyred, but people are mourning with awareness. They are standing by the revolution," Larijani said in a March 6 interview.

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"Now, suppose they kill five more. They killed someone so large and made him a martyr, and people are conscious. This is the point that the Imam (Khamenei) used to say about the martyrdom of Professor (Morteza) Motahari: 'Martyrs make the revolution stronger,'" he added.

"Kill us and our nation will become more awake."

Larijani's Warning To Trump

Larijani last week warned US President Donald Trump to "watch out for yourself - lest you be eliminated". He was last seen in the streets of Tehran at a Friday (March 13) rally marking the pro-Palestinian Quds Day holiday.

"It's clear they're running out of steam," Larijani told a TV interviewer in reference to Operation Epic Fury. 

"Trump's problem is that he doesn't understand that the Iranian nation is mature and determined," he added.

Ali Larijani's Death

Ali Larijani, 67, whom Israel called Iran's de facto leader after Khamenei's death, was killed in an Israeli airstrike, Iranian state media has confirmed.

The scion of a leading clerical family with brothers who rose to high positions after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Larijani was seen as canny and pragmatic but always fiercely determined to uphold Iran's theocratic system of government.

A Revolutionary Guards commander during the Iran-Iraq War, he became head of Iran's national broadcaster before stints running the Supreme National Security Council either side of his membership of parliament, where he was speaker for 12 years.

His role as the ultimate insider in Khamenei's Iran gave him responsibilities across a wide portfolio that included critical nuclear negotiations with the West, managing Tehran's regional ties and the suppression of internal unrest.

Despite his unswerving commitment to Khamenei's absolute rule, he advocated a more cautious approach than did other hardline figures, sometimes willing to further Iran's goals through diplomacy and to meet domestic opposition with soothing words.

After the US-Israeli strikes began on February 28, Larijani was one of the first major Iranian figures to speak, accusing Iran's attackers of seeking to disintegrate and plunder the country. He also issued stern warnings against any would-be protesters.