Who were Ali Larijani and Gholam Reza Soleimani, the Iranian leaders killed by Israel?
Analysis Summary
This article tries to convince you that killing top Iranian leaders like Larijani and Soleimani is a good thing, painting these actions as necessary steps to free the Iranian people from a repressive government. It does this by creating a clear 'us vs. them' dynamic and using strong emotional language, while largely ignoring the bigger picture of the conflict or any negative consequences these actions might have.
FATE Analysis
Four dimensions of psychological manipulation: how content captures Focus, exploits Authority, triggers Tribal identity, and engineers Emotion.
Focus signals
"Israel said Tuesday that it killed Larijani in an overnight strike."
This is presented as 'breaking news' due to the immediate reporting of the strike and the emphasis on a recent event ('Tuesday', 'overnight').
"Larijani, a top Iranian security official, was widely believed to be running the country as it reeled from the killing of its supreme leader and a widening war."
This dramatically frames Larijani's death as significant by highlighting his perceived immense power and the chaotic state of the country, immediately capturing attention.
"The killing of top leaders has so far had little impact on the war itself, as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard continues to fire missiles at Israel and Arab Gulf countries. Iran has also effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes, sending prices up and rattling the world economy."
This establishes a sense of an ongoing, high-stakes situation impacting global stability (oil prices, world economy), suggesting unprecedented events.
Authority signals
"An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said Soleimani was killed in a combat tent alongside other Basij commanders..."
The article uses the 'Israeli military official' as an authoritative, albeit anonymous, source to lend credibility to the details of Soleimani's death. The anonymity 'in line with regulations' further imbues it with official gravitas.
"Larijani hails from one of Iran’s most famous political families, which many media outlets have compared to the Kennedys in the United States. One brother, Sadeq, served as the head of Iran’s judiciary, while another, Mohammad Javad, was a senior diplomat who closely advised the late Khamenei on foreign affairs."
This establishes Larijani's gravitas and influence by associating him with a powerful political dynasty and highlighting his brothers' high-ranking positions, thereby lending weight to the article's depiction of his importance.
Tribe signals
"Israel said Tuesday that it killed Larijani in an overnight strike."
This immediately establishes an 'us vs. them' dynamic, with Israel on one side and Iranian officials on the other. It frames actions as direct military engagements between opposing forces.
"Israel’s military also said it killed Iranian Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, who led a powerful internal security force that has crushed waves of mass protests against the Shiite theocracy."
This further solidifies the 'us vs. them' narrative by positioning Israeli actions against a regime portrayed as oppressive to its own people, potentially aligning the reader with the 'anti-theocracy' stance.
"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes were aimed at weakening Iran’s government 'to give the Iranian people the opportunity to remove it.'"
Netanyahu's quote explicitly frames the conflict in tribal terms, suggesting Israel is acting on behalf of 'the Iranian people' against their oppressive government, creating an external 'savior' vs. internal 'oppressor' dynamic.
"The Basij numbers in the hundreds of thousands, and includes military-style brigades, anti-riot police and a vast network of informers who spy on Iranian society. During protests, plainclothes members can often be seen attacking, beating and hauling away demonstrators."
This uses descriptive language to portray the Basij as an oppressive force against 'Iranian society,' creating a strong 'us (the people) vs. them (the regime's enforcers)' division within Iran, which the article then links to the external conflict.
"The sacrificial nation of Iran doesn’t fear your empty threats. Even those bigger than you couldn’t eliminate Iran,” he wrote. “Be careful not to get eliminated yourself.”"
Larijani's quote, presented in the article, directly employs 'us vs. them' language. While it's a direct quote, the article's decision to include it and highlight the confrontational language reinforces the tribal framing of the conflict.
Emotion signals
"Soleimani, who led a powerful internal security force that has crushed waves of mass protests against the Shiite theocracy."
The phrase 'crushed waves of mass protests against the Shiite theocracy' is designed to evoke outrage at the internal repression by the Iranian regime's forces, especially when linked to their leader being killed by an external force.
"Iran has also effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes, sending prices up and rattling the world economy."
This passage directly targets fear of global economic instability and rising oil prices, framing the conflict as a threat to every reader's financial well-being.
"Hundreds were killed and tens of thousands detained in January when Iranians again rose up. It was the bloodiest such crackdown since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and caught the attention of Trump, who threatened to intervene on the protesters’ behalf before shifting his attention to Iran’s nuclear program."
The use of 'hundreds were killed and tens of thousands detained' and 'bloodiest such crackdown' aims to generate strong outrage and sympathy for the victims of the protests, portraying the regime as brutal and oppressive. While documenting real events, the phrasing is selected to maximize emotional impact and align the reader against the regime.
"Larijani, a top Iranian security official, was widely believed to be running the country as it reeled from the killing of its supreme leader and a widening war."
The phrase 'reeling from the killing of its supreme leader and a widening war' suggests a state of high chaos and urgent crisis, designed to make the reader feel an immediate, heightened sense of importance about the ongoing events.
Narrative Analysis (PCP)
How the article reshapes thinking: Perception (what beliefs are targeted), Context (what information is shifted or omitted), and Permission (what behavior is being encouraged).
The article aims to instill the belief that the killing of top Iranian leaders, specifically Larijani and Soleimani, is a targeted and justifiable action against a repressive regime; that these individuals were key figures in state repression and anti-Western sentiment; and that these strikes, despite not immediately altering the war's trajectory, serve a long-term goal of weakening the Iranian government to empower its people.
The article shifts context from a military conflict between nations to an operation designed to support popular regime change. By highlighting the repressive actions of the deceased officials against their own population and the Israeli Prime Minister's quote about 'giving the Iranian people the opportunity to remove' their government, it frames the strikes as aiding an oppressed populace rather than direct military aggression.
The article significantly omits the broader geopolitical context of the conflict, such as the initial causes or escalations that led to the 'widening war' beyond the specific strikes mentioned. It also downplays or omits potential international legal ramifications or the wider regional destabilization that such targeted killings could provoke. The potential for the strikes to rally, rather than diminish, internal support for the Iranian regime is also not explored, despite the stated goal of empowering the Iranian people.
The reader is nudged toward accepting and perhaps implicitly approving of the targeted killings as a necessary, if not beneficial, action against a repressive and destabilizing regime. They are encouraged to view these actions as a means to free the Iranian people and stabilize the region, rather than as escalatory acts of war.
SMRP Pattern
Four manipulation maintenance tactics: Socializing the idea as normal, Minimizing concerns, Rationalizing with logic, and Projecting blame.
"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes were aimed at weakening Iran’s government 'to give the Iranian people the opportunity to remove it.'"
Red Flags
High-severity indicators: silencing dissent, coordinated messaging, or weaponizing identity to shut down debate.
"Israel’s military also said it killed Iranian Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, who led a powerful internal security force that has crushed waves of mass protests against the Shiite theocracy. ... An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said Soleimani was killed in a combat tent alongside other Basij commanders, who were using it as makeshift headquarters as Israel has targeted several of their bases."
Techniques Found(6)
Specific propaganda techniques identified using the SemEval-2023 academic taxonomy of 23 techniques across 6 categories.
"The killing of top leaders has so far had little impact on the war itself, as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard continues to fire missiles at Israel and Arab Gulf countries. Iran has also effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes, sending prices up and rattling the world economy."
This quote attributes the continued conflict and economic consequences solely to the actions of the Revolutionary Guard and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, without acknowledging the broader, complex geopolitical factors, historical grievances, or strategic motivations that contribute to the ongoing war and global economic shifts.
"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes were aimed at weakening Iran’s government “to give the Iranian people the opportunity to remove it.”"
Netanyahu's statement frames the military strikes as an act of liberation, appealing to the democratic value of self-determination and implying that the strikes are for the benefit of the Iranian people, thereby justifying the actions.
"“The sacrificial nation of Iran doesn’t fear your empty threats. Even those bigger than you couldn’t eliminate Iran,” he wrote. “Be careful not to get eliminated yourself.”"
Larijani's use of 'sacrificial nation' and vague threats like 'empty threats' and 'get eliminated yourself' are emotionally charged but lack specific meaning or details, designed to evoke a strong but undefined sense of defiance and danger without making concrete claims.
"Shadowy leader of the ayatollahs’ shock troops"
The phrase 'Shadowy leader of the ayatollahs’ shock troops' uses emotionally charged words like 'shadowy' and 'shock troops' to create a negative and ominous impression of General Gholam Reza Soleimani and the Basij, rather than simply stating his role.
"When it was notorious for launching human wave attacks at fortified Iraqi positions."
The word 'notorious' paired with 'human wave attacks' is used to evoke a strong negative emotional response, highlighting the perceived brutality or recklessness of the Basij's tactics during the Iran-Iraq war.
"Thousands were killed and tens of thousands detained in January when Iranians again rose up. It was the bloodiest such crackdown since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and caught the attention of Trump, who threatened to intervene on the protesters’ behalf before shifting his attention to Iran’s nuclear program."
The phrase 'bloodiest such crackdown since the 1979 Islamic Revolution' is an exaggeration designed to magnify the severity of the January crackdown into historical proportions, potentially to evoke stronger emotional reactions or highlight the conflict's intensity.