Tehran:
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said the killing of senior Iranian officials, including security chief Ali Larijani, will not weaken the government in Tehran.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Araghchi stressed that governance in Iran is built on strong institutions rather than individuals. He said attacks by the US and Israel targeting top leaders would not shake the system, which, he claimed, continued to function even after the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
The remarks came after Larijani — a senior security figure and influential conservative voice — was killed in an Israeli strike along with his son Morteza and an aide, Iranian authorities confirmed on Tuesday. Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij militia, was also reportedly killed in a separate Israeli attack.
What Abbas Araghchi Said
“I do not know why the Americans and Israelis have still not understood this: The Islamic Republic of Iran has a strong political structure with established institutions,” Araghchi told Al Jazeera.
“The presence or absence of a single individual does not affect this structure,” he added.
“Of course, individuals matter and each plays their role — some more, some less — but what is important is that Iran’s political system remains solid.”
The minister also referred to the assassination of Khamenei on the first day of US-Israeli strikes on February 28, saying that despite the major loss, “the system continued.”
“We have not had anyone more important than the leader himself, yet even after his martyrdom, the system continued its work and immediately provided a replacement,” he said.
“If anyone else is martyred, it will be the same. If the foreign minister were to be martyred, someone else would ultimately take the position.”
What Abbas Araghchi’s Remarks Mean
Iran’s military is based on the ‘Mosaic Defence’ doctrine, developed years ago by strategist Mohammad Ali Jafari. In an earlier statement, Araghchi described the country’s defence strategy as the result of a “two-decade study” of US military setbacks in regions to Iran’s east and west.
“We have incorporated those lessons accordingly. Bombings in our capital have no impact on our ability to wage war. The decentralised Mosaic Defence allows us to decide when and how a war will end,” he said days after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in US-Israeli strikes.
What Is Iran’s Mosaic Defence?
Mosaic Defence is a military concept that divides Iran’s defensive structure into multiple regional and semi-independent layers, rather than concentrating power in a single command chain that could be crippled by a decapitation strike.
Under this model, forces such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Basij militia, regular army units, missile divisions, naval forces, and local commands operate as part of a distributed system. If one component is hit, others continue functioning, preventing a total collapse even if senior leaders are eliminated.
The IRGC itself is organised into 31 provincial commands, each operating as a self-contained unit with its own weapons, intelligence, and command systems. Even if communication with top leadership is cut off, local units are empowered to act independently.
Dr Michael Connall, an expert on Iranian military culture, said the restructuring was aimed at making “any attempt to weaken Iran’s defence extremely difficult.” (Agency)
