Tehran denies US talks as strikes rattle Israel and markets swing amid fragile Middle East tensions
tehran
Iran has named a former Revolutionary Guards commander and senior figure in the hardline political faction on Tuesday to replace the head of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Ali Larijani, who was killed in US-Israeli strikes last week.
Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr was appointed as Larijani’s successor as secretary of the SNSC, the Iranian president’s deputy of communications posted on X on Tuesday.
The SNSC, formally chaired by the elected president, Masoud Pezeshkian, coordinates security and foreign policy, and includes top military, intelligence and government officials in addition to representatives of the supreme leader who has ultimate say over all matters of state. Zolqadr is a former Revolutionary Guards commander who has in the past held senior security positions such as deputy for security at the interior ministry, deputy at the armed forces’ general staff and advisor to the judiciary chief for crime prevention.
He headed the electoral headquarters of the Popular Front of Islamic Revolutionary Forces. Since 2022, he has served as secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council, an assembly that resolves differences between parliament and the Guardian Council of Shi’ite clerics and jurists who can veto legislation and supervise elections.
Iran’s military spox says forces will fight ‘until complete victory’
The spokesman of Iran’s top military command says the country’s armed forces will fight “until complete victory,” according to Al Jazeera.
The comments by Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi of the Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters, carried by state television, said, “Iran’s powerful armed forces are proud, victorious and steadfast in defending Iran’s integrity, and this path will continue until complete victory”.
The general did not say what “complete victory” would look like, but the Qatari news organisation added that it appeared likely that Iran’s military was trying to warn against offering concessions in any possible negotiations with the US, Al Jazeera reported.
Meanwhile, Iran launched multiple waves of missiles at Israel, the Israeli military said, after US President Donald Trump postponed a threat to bomb the Islamic Republic’s power grid because of what he described as productive talks with Iranian officials.
The missiles triggered air raid sirens in Israel, including Tel Aviv, where gaping holes were torn through a multi-storey apartment building. It was not immediately clear if the damage was caused by a direct hit or debris from an interception.
Israel’s Fire and Rescue Service said they were searching for civilians trapped in one building in Tel Aviv and discovered civilians in a shelter in another damaged building.
