Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has asserted that the country’s political infrastructure remains a “very solid structure” and will not suffer a “fatal blow to Iran’s leadership” despite the confirmed killing of Ali Larijani.
Larijani was the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and was a key figure in Tehran’s security apparatus. In an interview with Al Jazeera aired after Tehran confirmed Larijani’s death early Wednesday, Araghchi emphasised that the United States and Israel have yet to realise that the Iranian government “does not rely on a single individual.”
“I do not know why the Americans and the Israelis still have not understood this point: The Islamic Republic of Iran has a strong political structure with established political, economic, and social institutions,” Araghchi said.
The Foreign Minister emphasised that the “presence or absence of a single individual does not affect this structure.” He also highlighted that while “individuals are influential, and each person plays their role–some better, some worse, some less–but what matters is that the political system in Iran is a very solid structure.”
Araghchi pointed to the earlier death of the nation’s former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed during the opening US–Israeli strikes on February 28, and noted that despite that significant loss, “the system continued” to function.
“We have not had anyone more important than the leader himself, and even the leader was martyred, yet the system continued its work and immediately provided a replacement,” the minister said. He further maintained that “if anyone else is martyred, it will be the same,” adding that “if the foreign minister were ever to be martyred, there would ultimately be someone else to take the position.”
The 67-year-old Larijani, a close associate of the late Ali Khamenei and his successor Mojtaba Khamenei, was killed following an attack on Monday night, marking the loss of the highest-ranking official in Tehran’s leadership since the conflict began 19 days ago.
Iranian state media also confirmed on Tuesday that Brigadier General Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij forces, was killed in what was described as an “American-Zionist enemy” attack. Soleimani, who led the internal security force for six years, was considered a key figure in Iran’s military response.
Araghchi reiterated that Tehran was not the party that initiated the region’s escalating conflict.
“I will repeat: This war is not our war,” the minister stated. We did not start it. The United States started it and is responsible for all the consequences of this war–human and financial–whether for Iran, for the region, or for the entire world,” Araghchi said, adding that “the United States must be held accountable.”
