Iranian state television announced Friday that Ali Mohammad Naini, spokesman for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli strike, along with his deputy. An Israeli security official later confirmed Naini’s death.

The strike followed a string of increasingly aggressive public statements from Naini, who had positioned himself as a central figure in Iran’s messaging throughout the conflict.
On February 28—the day the war erupted—Naini struck a tone of defiance, declaring, “We are prepared for all scenarios,” while insisting that previous clashes had proven “the military option against Iran is a failure.”

He doubled down days later, warning that Iran was prepared for a prolonged confrontation and hinting at a new arsenal yet to be fully deployed.
“Iranian forces are ready for a long war,” he said on March 6. “New weapons will soon be revealed… The enemy should expect painful blows in every wave of operations.”

Even in his final public remarks last Sunday, Naini remained openly provocative, challenging U.S. claims of crippling Iran’s naval capabilities and daring American forces to re-enter the region.

“Let him send his warships to the Gulf if he has the courage,” Naini said, referring to President Donald Trump. “Most of the missiles we are launching now were produced a decade ago,” he added, suggesting that Iran’s more advanced weaponry had yet to be unleashed.

Just one day before news of the strike broke, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a pointed warning that now appears eerily prescient.

“The last job anyone in the world wants right now is to be a senior leader for the IRGC or Basij,” Hegseth said. “Temp jobs, all of them.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)