Former Iranian foreign minister Kamal Kharazi has been seriously injured in an apparent assassination attempt.
His wife was reportedly killed in the attack, which comes as the United States and Israel continue airstrikes into a fifth week.
Iranian media reported on Thursday, April 2, that Kharazi’s home in Tehran was struck in an airstrike on April 1.
He was hospitalized with severe injuries, while his wife did not survive, according to local newspapers including Shargh, Etemad, and Ham Mihan.
A series of air strikes have been reported to hit multiple Iranian cities, with explosions reported in Tehran, Isfahan, and Shiraz amid ongoing military operations.
Kharazi is a senior political figure who served as Iran’s foreign minister and later became an adviser to the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. He has continued in that advisory role under the new leadership of Mojtaba Khamenei.
Iran Ex-Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi on Diplomacy
The attack followed his recent remarks that there is “no room for diplomacy” with the United States and Israel.
He said such a stance would remain unless economic pressure rises enough to force other countries to intervene and end what Tehran describes as American and Israeli aggression against Iran.
In an exclusive CNN interview in Tehran on March 9, Kamal Kharazi dismissed claims by the United States that Iran’s military capabilities have been significantly weakened, calling the statements a “false narrative.”
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He added that Iran’s military remains strong and self-sufficient, stressing that the country produces its own weapons and does not rely on other nations for arms.
“There’s no room unless the economic pressure is built up to the extent that other countries would intervene to guarantee this termination of aggression of Americans and Israelis against Iran,” he said.
“The Iranian military is quite strong, as you see, because they have the motivation, they have the arms that they need, which are produced in Iran. As a matter of fact, we are not dependent on any other country for weapons and arms.”
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Other Prominent Figures Killed in the War
Several high-ranking Iranian officials have been killed so far in the conflict:
- Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – Supreme Leader
- Ali Larijani – Head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council
- Esmail Khatib – Minister of Intelligence
- Asadollah Badfar – Head of the Basij Forces
- Esmail Dehghan – Senior Commander, IRGC Aerospace Force
- Akbar Ghaffari – Deputy Minister of Intelligence
- Mohammadreza Saqafifar – Special Assistant to the Supreme Leader
