Iranians are celebrating news that Tehran’s de facto leader was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday.
Parmida Hoseinpour, an Iranian influencer, was among the many cheering after the Israeli military said it killed Ali Larijani, 67, head of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran.
Hoseinpour said she was glad to hear Larijani’s name among the dead in the wake of the slow trickle of deaths confirmed during Tehran’s brutal crackdown in January, which human rights groups estimate killed more than 7,000 people.
“For three months, the names of our ‘Javids’ (our fallen/eternal ones) kept coming out. Now your names are coming out. Burn,” Hoseinpour said on Instagram.
The streets of Tehran’s Chitgar neighborhood were filled with residents celebrating reports of Larijani’s death on Tuesday, according to the London-based Iran International outlet.
Video taken from the area captured the cheers from residents in a high-rise building, though the people were kept out of view over fears of retaliation from Tehran’s security forces, according to the outlet.
The celebrations come as anti-regime protests are expected to break out on Wednesday as part of the Chaharshanbe Suri fire festival, which is held before Persian New Years.
Larijani was largely seen as the de facto ruler of Iran following the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with the security chief tasked with advising the supreme leader of the nuclear talks with the US.
He was one of 10 Islamic Republic officials who had a $10 million bounty placed on their heads on Friday by the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program.
Larijani had previously been sanctioned by the Treasury Department in January over Tehran’s violent suppression of nationwide protests.
Iranian state media did not immediately confirm either death but did publish a handwritten note by Larijani commemorating sailors killed in a US attack whose funeral was expected on Tuesday.
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