Prince Pahlavi warns security forces to stay off streets during fire festival

Israel’s military said on Tuesday that it had killed Iran’s de facto leader Ali Larijani in an overnight airstrike in Tehran.

Larijani, who served as secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, was targeted by the Israeli air force in the capital, the military said.

It described Larijani as having acted as Iran’s “de facto leader” following the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the opening strikes of the war on Feb. 28.

The military said Larijani had led Iran’s political and security coordination and directed its international activities.

More people worldwide could face acute hunger if the Iran war continues through June, the World Food Program said on Tuesday.

WFP Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau told reporters in Geneva that an additional 45 million people are projected to be pushed into acute hunger by higher food, oil and shipping costs, taking the global total above the current record 319 million.

“This would take global hunger levels to an all-time record and it’s a terrible, terrible prospect,” Skau said.

“Already, before this war, we were in a perfect storm where hunger has never been as severe as now, in terms of numbers and how deep that hunger is,” he added.

Around 300 Basij commanders and field officials were killed in a wave of overnight strikes on key command and operational centers of Iran’s Basij forces, Iran International has learned.

The strikes appeared to hit the logistics and command structure of a force long used to suppress dissent and confront anti-government protests.

In one of the most critical attacks, a Basij support unit’s repair and maintenance center was hit. The site housed hundreds of vehicles and motorcycles used in street operations and neighborhood patrols. Initial reports said the fleet was destroyed.

Facilities linked to the Mohammad Rasoulollah Corps, the IRGC unit responsible for the greater Tehran area, were struck.

The Imam Hadi security unit, a strategic command center in Tehran, was also heavily damaged.

The Imam Ali security battalions, which have played a central role in cracking down on protests, also suffered heavy personnel and equipment losses.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said Larijani had been killed in the strikes, while the Israeli military confirmed it targeted him in Tehran. The military separately said a strike killed Soleimani, head of the Basij paramilitary force, along with other senior officials.

Katz used stark language in comments released by his office after a security assessment.

“Larijani and the Basij commander were eliminated overnight and joined the head of the annihilation program, Khamenei, and all the eliminated members of the axis of evil, in the depths of hell,” Katz said.

The Israeli military said Soleimani was struck at a tent camp recently established by the Basij after earlier Israeli attacks damaged several headquarters used by the paramilitary organization.

According to the military, the strike also killed the deputy commander of the Basij and several other senior officials.

The Basij, which operates under the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, has long been associated with the enforcement of ideological policies and the suppression of dissent inside Iran.

The reported killings mark one of the most significant decapitation strikes against Iran’s leadership structure since the outbreak of the current conflict.

Larijani: Insider and wartime power broker

Ali Ardashir Larijani, born on June 3, 1945 in Najaf, Iraq, rose to become one of the most influential figures in the Islamic Republic over four decades.

He came from a clerical family originally from Mazandaran province in northern Iran. His father, Hashem Larijani, was a cleric, and several of his brothers also held senior posts within the Iranian state.

His political career began in the early years after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, when he joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and later moved into government posts.

Larijani served as deputy labor minister and later as deputy minister of information and communications technology before he was appointed in 1994 as the head of the state broadcasting organization, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).

He led the state media network for a decade, a role that gave him a position in shaping the government’s propaganda during a politically turbulent period.

In 2005 he was appointed secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, placing him at the center of Iran’s security policy and nuclear negotiations. In that role he served as Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator in talks with European powers.

Larijani later entered parliamentary politics and became speaker of the Iranian parliament in 2008, a position he held until 2020.

He ran for president in 2005 but finished sixth, and later attempted to run again in 2021 and 2024. Both candidacies were blocked by the Guardian Council, which vets candidates for high office.

In August 2025, he returned to the center of national security policy when he was appointed once again as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.

Following the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during the 2026 US-Israeli strikes, some analysts and media reports described Larijani as acting as Iran’s wartime leader, relying on long-standing ties to security institutions and clerical networks.

The United States imposed sanctions on Larijani in January 2026 over his role in the violent suppression of protests inside Iran.

Iranian on social media blame him as the mastermind behind the massacre of around 36,500 protesters during January uprising. Israeli officials said their overnight strike targeted him in Tehran.

Soleimani: Basij commander

Gholamreza Soleimani, born in 1963 in Farsan in Iran’s Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, built his career inside the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and the Basij militia.

Despite sharing the surname, he was not related to Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Guard’s Quds Force who was killed in a US drone strike in Iraq in January 2020.

Soleimani joined the Basij as a volunteer during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s and later became a member of the Revolutionary Guards.

He steadily rose through the ranks and eventually became commander of the Basij Organization in 2019.

The Basij, a paramilitary network with branches across Iran, operates under the authority of the Revolutionary Guards and has played a key role in enforcing ideological policies and mobilizing supporters of the Islamic Republic.

The force has also been widely accused by human rights groups of participating in violent crackdowns on protests.

Soleimani was sanctioned by the European Union in 2021 for his role in the repression of those protests.

The United States Treasury placed him on its Specially Designated Nationals list later the same year.

Additional sanctions were imposed by the United Kingdom and Canada in connection with human rights abuses.

The strikes occurred as Israel and the United States continued a broad aerial campaign against Iranian military and nuclear infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Israeli air defenses detected a new ballistic missile launch from Iran toward northern Israel on Tuesday.

Iranian authorities have issued stark warnings ahead of Chaharshanbeh Suri as officials point to what they describe as wartime conditions and the risk of unrest.

Police commander Ahmadreza Radan said this year’s celebrations come under “different circumstances,” adding that the country is effectively in a state of war and that emergency and medical services are on high alert.

He warned that adversaries could exploit the night’s gatherings, saying there is a possibility that “agents” could blend into crowds celebrating the festival and trigger incidents or casualties to inflame the situation.

In a separate notice, the Intelligence Ministry urged citizens to remain vigilant, claiming that “a small number of Israeli soldiers” may attempt sabotage during the festivities and calling on people to report suspicious activity.

The messaging has been reinforced by a broader security buildup. Reports indicate increased coordination among police, intelligence, and judicial bodies, alongside threats of decisive action against what officials describe as dangerous behavior.

In some areas, people have been encouraged to hold events in mosques and controlled spaces rather than in the streets.

Contest over public space, culture and control

Yet Chaharshanbeh Suri has rarely stayed contained.

Celebrated on the eve of the last Wednesday before Nowruz, the festival – marked by bonfires, fireworks, and the ritual of jumping over flames – predates Islam and has endured for centuries. In recent years, it has taken on an added meaning, evolving into one of the few nights when large numbers of people gather spontaneously in public spaces.

That scale has made it difficult to control. It has also turned the festival into a recurring flashpoint.

Last year, crowds across multiple cities poured into the streets despite heavy security presence. Clashes broke out in several areas, leaving at least 19 dead and thousands injured. Videos showed bonfires lighting up neighborhoods as music, chanting, and fireworks filled the air.

In earlier years, the night has gone further, with young people using firecrackers and homemade devices to confront security forces, chanting slogans, and in some cases burning photos of late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The pattern has become familiar: warnings ahead of the night, followed by mass turnout, and then confrontation.

This year, however, the backdrop is markedly different.

Iran is in the midst of an escalating conflict, with the United States and Israel striking targets linked to military and security structures. A strike announced on Tuesday killed the IRGC Basij commander Gholamreza Soleimani, a key figure in crowd control and repression.

Against that backdrop, officials have framed the festival not only as a safety concern but as a potential security threat.

‘A symbol of resilience’

Exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi, in an interview with Iran International earlier this week, said the festival carries a deeper meaning beyond tradition.

“When we celebrate Chaharshanbeh Suri today, it is not only to preserve our culture,” he said. “It is a powerful message to those who have always tried to erase our identity… an opportunity to show that we exist – to ourselves and to the world.”

He also pointed to a broader generational shift, saying: “Today everyone has reached the conclusion that a secular system is needed… a system built on ideology has, from the beginning, imposed discrimination on society.”

At the same time, he framed the preservation of cultural traditions as central to Iran’s resilience, adding that the country has endured “because of the courage of its people and the preservation of Iranian culture.”

His call to mark the night has been echoed among parts of the diaspora, including appeals for gatherings outside Iranian embassies, while inside the country officials have warned that participation could carry consequences.

The tension between these two narratives – celebration and control – is not new.

As analyst Morad Vaisi has noted, the confrontation over festivals like Nowruz and Chaharshanbeh Suri reflects a deeper struggle.

These traditions, he wrote, have endured not because of official backing, but because of people’s resistance to cultural pressure, becoming a symbol of identity and continuity beyond political systems.

Each year that people gather despite restrictions, the act itself sends a message that Iran’s cultural life extends beyond those in power.

That dynamic is expected to be on full display again tonight.

But this year, the familiar sounds of celebration will unfold alongside something heavier: a country under bombardment, a heightened security presence, and warnings that frame even small gatherings as a potential threat.

In past years, Chaharshanbeh Suri has often blurred the line between festivity and confrontation.

As darkness falls, that line may once again be tested – raising expectations of large turnouts, and concern that the night could end, as it has before, with violence and more lives lost.