The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday (17) that they will “find and neutralize” Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, and stated that no member of the current leadership of the Islamic regime is beyond the reach of Israeli military operations. The statement was made by IDF spokesperson, General Effie Defrin, during a press conference.
The spokesman said the IDF does not know where Mojtaba Khamenei is since he took over as supreme leader following the death of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but said this will not prevent further operations.
“We don’t know his fate. We don’t hear him, we don’t see him. But I can say one thing: we will continue, as we have already proven, to pursue anyone who poses a threat to the State of Israel. He is not immune. We will pursue him, find him and neutralize him,” said Defrin.
According to the spokesperson, Israel has increased attacks against leaders of the Islamic regime in recent days and will continue to hit targets considered responsible for threats against Israel.
“We are attacking all the leaders of the regime, as we saw in the last day,” he said, mentioning the death of the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, and the commander of the Basij paramilitary militia, Gholamreza Soleimani.
According to the IDF, Israel is currently targeting the entire command structure of the Iranian regime. Defrin said the country was prepared for a prolonged operation and that attacks could continue in the coming weeks.
Ali Larijani’s death was confirmed this afternoon by Iranian state media and by a publication on Larijani’s official account on the X social network.
