Iran names ex-Revolutionary Guards commander to replace Ali Larijani

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. JUST IN: 🇮🇷🇮🇱 Iran launches wave of missiles at Tel Aviv, Israel. pic.twitter.com/H5uMfPCWAu — Uma Shankar✍️ (@umashankermedia) March 24, 2026 Three senior Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Trump appeared determined to reach a deal, but that they thought it highly unlikely that Iran would agree to US demands in any new round of negotiations. After Trump's Truth Social comment on Monday, Iran said no talks had yet been held. Iran's embassy in South Africa posted an image on X showing a child's pink steering wheel placed on a car dashboard in front of the passenger seat, apparently mocking Trump's idea, aired to reporters, that he could control the Strait of Hormuz alongside Iran's supreme leader. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who spoke to Trump less than 48 hours before their countries began the war, was expected to convene a meeting of security officials for talks on Trump's bid for a deal with Iran, two senior Israeli officials said. Israel's military said on Tuesday its fighter jets had carried out a large wave of strikes in central Tehran on Monday, targeting key command centres, including facilities associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ intelligence arm and the Iranian Intelligence Ministry. It said more than 50 additional targets were hit overnight, including ballistic missile storage and launch sites. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Monday that the US and Iran had held "very good and productive" conversations about a "complete and total resolution of hostilities in the Middle East". As a result, he said, he was postponing for five days a plan to hit Iran's energy grid. His announcement sent share prices higher and oil prices sharply lower to below $100 a barrel, a sudden reversal to a market swoon caused by his weekend threats and Iran's vows to respond. Those gains were in jeopardy on Tuesday, however, after Iran's powerful parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf - who an Israeli official and two other sources familiar with the matter said was the interlocutor in the talks on the Iranian side - said no negotiations had taken place. "No negotiations have been held with the US, and fake news is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped," he wrote on X. UPDATE: There have been no ceasefire or peace negotiations between Iran and the US, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on X. He remarked that Trump's claim was made to manipulate oil and financial markets. https://t.co/dAjvEMnMmc pic.twitter.com/mQWVty090G — The LaSallian (@TheLaSallian) March 24, 2026 Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said they were launching fresh attacks on US targets, and described Trump's words as "psychological operations" that were "worn out" and had no impact on Tehran's fight. Global markets rallied in relief overnight on Monday after Trump added five days to his Saturday ultimatum for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz - a conduit for about 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas - within 48 hours. But on Tuesday, those gains were under threat as markets weighed the conflicting messages from Tehran and Washington. US Treasury yields pushed higher, and the dollar regained lost ground as the world continues to grapple with an energy shock triggered by Iran's threat to shipping in the Strait. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 4.2% to $104.21 a barrel, reversing some of their 10% slide from Monday, while US crude CLc1 rose 4.3% to $91.93 per barrel. "The underlying situation is still incredibly fragile or flammable," said IG market analyst Tony Sycamore. Trump told reporters his special envoy, Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who had been negotiating with Iran before the war, had held discussions with a top Iranian official into the evening on Sunday and would continue on Monday. "We have had very, very strong talks. We'll see where they lead. We have major points of agreement, I would say, almost all points of agreement," he said on Monday. A European official said that while there had been no direct negotiations between the two nations, Egypt, Pakistan and Gulf states were relaying messages. A Pakistani official and a second source told Reuters that direct talks on ending the war could be held in Islamabad as soon as this week. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement that he spoke with Trump on Monday and that Israel would press on with attacks in Lebanon and Iran. Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu tweets, "Earlier today, I spoke with our friend President Trump. President Trump believes there is an opportunity to leverage the tremendous achievements we have attained with the U.S. military to realize the war objectives in the… pic.twitter.com/N1iPauSOVr — ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2026 But Netanyahu said Trump believed there was a possibility of "leveraging the mighty achievements obtained by the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) and the US military, in order to realise the goals of the war in a deal - a deal that will preserve our vital interests." Although there was no immediate confirmation that talks had taken place as described by Trump, Iran's foreign ministry described initiatives to reduce tensions. It said Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi had reviewed developments related to the Strait of Hormuz with his Omani counterpart and agreed to continue consultations between the two countries. The Pakistani official said US Vice President JD Vance, as well as Witkoff and Kushner, were expected to meet Iranian officials in Islamabad this week, following a call between Trump and Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir. Iranian media reported that Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian and Prime Minister Shehbaz ‌Sharif discussed the impact of the war on regional and global security. Iran has effectively closed the key Strait of Hormuz since the United States and Israel launched their war on the country on February 28. More than 2,000 people have been killed in the war. Iran had responded to Trump's threats to strike its power plants by saying it would hammer the infrastructure of US allies in the Middle East, raising the prospect that an extreme disruption to global energy supplies could last longer than previously expected. Iran arrests 466 Iranian police arrested 466 people accused of online activities aimed at undermining national security, state media reported on Tuesday, in one of the biggest security sweeps since the start of the war with Israel and the United States. Iranian media have reported more than 1,000 arrests over the course of the month, pertaining to individuals accused of filming sensitive locations, sharing anti-government content online, or "cooperating with the enemy". A police statement said the arrests followed intelligence and technical monitoring in recent days, alleging the individuals were connected to “enemy” networks seeking to create internal instability.