- 1 day ago
Israel claims to have killed Ali Larijani, Iran's National Security Council Secretary and a key figure in Tehran's inner circle, described as the country's number two leader. The strike also reportedly eliminated the commander of Iran's Basij force, responsible for suppressing protests. Iran has countered the claim by releasing a handwritten note attributed to Larijani, though it does not directly address the Israeli allegations. The airstrikes mark a significant escalation in the West Asia conflict, with Israel targeting Iran's core power structure. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi spoke with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, condemning attacks on the UAE and emphasising the importance of safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. In a separate development, a Pakistani airstrike on a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul killed 408 people, including patients and healthcare workers, sparking international outrage and fresh tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan's Taliban government.
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00:02Day 18 of the West Asia War
00:06Big claim by Bibi and his forces
00:13Moshtaba's aide Ali Larijani killed
00:17Iran counters with Larijani's handwritten note
00:21Iran's number 2 dead or alive
00:29Good evening, hello and welcome
00:30You're watching NewsTrack here on India Today
00:32I'm Akshita Nandikopal and yes, as we just gave you a glimpse
00:35we're going to be talking about the latest updates
00:37in the West Asia War
00:38Has another top leader bitten the dust essentially?
00:42Israel claims yes
00:44We'll also get your highlights of what Donald Trump has said moments ago
00:46in a fresh briefing of what's happening in this conflict
00:49First, we begin with the top 10 headlines at 10pm
00:54It's a clash of titans in Kolkata's Babanipur
00:58as Didi accepts BJP's challenge
01:00will fight against Shuvendu Adhikari
01:02in the upcoming polls from her bastion
01:06Election Commission's third round of reshuffle
01:09in pole-bound West Bengal transfers 12 SP-ranked officers
01:13Earlier, the Kolkata top cops
01:15State Chief Secretary Bengal DG and ADG were transferred
01:19Big escalation in the West Asia War
01:22Israel says it's eliminated
01:23Majdaba Khamenei's top aide and Iran security chief
01:27Ali Larijani
01:28Larijani's number two in Iran
01:30was steering Tehran security strategy
01:32Iran yet to react
01:36After Shivalik, the LPG tanker
01:39Nanda Devi arrives at the India port
01:42Nanda Devi carries the over 47,000 metric tons of LPG
01:46will conduct mid-sea transfers as well
01:49Big setback for Donald Trump amid the raging war
01:52US counter-terror chief quits from his post
01:55says can't support ongoing war with Iran
01:57The US counter-terror chief also says
01:59Iran posed no imminent threat to the US
02:02claims that the war began under pressure from Israel
02:07AIA-DMK leader Rajasabhai MP CV Shanmugam sparks a massive controversy after making a misogynistic remark about popular actor Nayantara
02:16while criticizing the Stalin-led government's outreach campaign
02:19The DMK has reacted saying he can criticize their policies but not make vulgar comments
02:24Supreme Court strikes down law limiting maternity leave to adoption of children under three months
02:29says adopted child no different
02:31also observes that adoption is part of the right to reproductive autonomy
02:36Hours after the Delhi, High Court closed actor Selena Jaitley's plea
02:39following her brother Vikran Jaitley's refusal of communication and legal aid
02:44while being detained in the UAE
02:45The actor said it was her duty to ensure he was not left without protection
02:50Pakistani strikes hit a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul
02:54killing 408 people
02:56The Taliban issued its first reaction here on India today
02:59condemning the attack
03:00India has also slammed Pakistan over the Kabul hospital attack
03:05And after massive backlash on social media
03:07the Hindi version of a song featuring Nora Fatehi and Sanjay Dutt
03:11from the upcoming Kannada Pan India film KD The Devil
03:14has been taken down by the makers
03:16following a complaint filed with the censor board
03:27Donald Trump has now resorted to a tirade against NATO allies
03:32saying very clearly that we don't need them
03:35Now Donald Trump reacting to the fact that NATO allies have snubbed
03:39and said very clearly that they will not be a part of this wider conflict
03:43refused to deploy in the Strait of Ormuz
03:46Donald Trump has said
03:47I'm not really surprised because NATO has never in fact contributed
03:53He suggests that these countries essentially work for their own benefits
03:56There is a one-way street where America pumps in money
03:59where America protects them and they do nothing in return
04:03So as expected, Donald Trump going after now NATO allies
04:08suggesting that while America is perfectly able and capable of taking on Iran's military
04:15and he goes on to say Iran's navy is gone, their air force is gone, their radars are down and
04:22their leaders are gone
04:23He also says that no, we don't need any help from NATO
04:29And getting America's allies to assist the U.S. in escorting those oil tankers through the Strait of Ormuz
04:35Well, we don't need too much help and we don't need any help
04:38I was watching over the last couple of weeks and all of our NATO allies were very much in favor
04:47of what we did
04:48They thought it was very important
04:50We were just discussing it actually
04:52Very important that we take out the nuclear threat from Iran
04:57And we've done that very strongly, very powerfully
05:00We've wiped out their navy, wiped out their military in every aspect
05:04Their air force is now decimated
05:06They have no air force, no navy
05:08They have no radar
05:11Their radar is entirely gone
05:13Their anti-aircraft machinery is gone
05:15Everything is gone
05:16Their leaders are gone
05:17I guess one of the the top person was they say a lot of people say their actual top was
05:23Killed yesterday along with somebody else
05:27That who was responsible for the killing the man that was responsible for the killing of 32,000 people over
05:34the last two weeks
05:35He was in charge of the killing of protesters
05:38It's an evil group
05:40I mean they've killed much more than 32,000 people and the man who is responsible for that was also
05:45killed yesterday
05:47Let me bring in Pranay Upadhyay of India today global for more details on this
05:51Pranay Trump
05:52Obviously not taking kindly to the fact that he's got essentially
05:55No help at all in the last few days from nato allies and now suggests i don't need it
06:06Apologies
06:07Pranay can you hear me?
06:09Yeah, I can hear you
06:10I think a president Donald trump has reasons to to be get annoyed with the european partners
06:16Especially the nato partners because the just few days ago
06:19I actually thought we have seen the german chancellor sitting in white house in oval office
06:23Besides him and he said that we remain and on same page and this regime should go
06:28But when president on trump called for the help and these nato allies nobody turned up and in fact
06:33Every country has given their own reason especially if you talk about germany german defense minister pistorius clearly said that
06:40you know germany do
06:41Does not have any intention to join this this conflict and to to join the military operation of the united
06:48states and israel
06:49Clearly president donald trump
06:51You know he's you heard him that he has called out nato
06:55That you know united states did so many things for the union for the nato and its partner
06:59But now they do not want to turn to they do not want to join
07:04So we also don't need them because we are militaries is as a force enough to to carry out these
07:10operations
07:11But this clearly shows that the cracks are quite visible in the nato alliance and you know post russia ukraine
07:17conflict
07:18We have seen that you know how president donald trump turned heat over over nato and now this is now
07:23he's on the receiving end
07:25But what exactly are the reason why nato is not you know turning up or not showing up for his
07:31is his call?
07:32And the other reason largely remains about the economic situation and also about the long haul of this operation because
07:40As far as the objectives are concerned as far as the commitments are concerned
07:43Nobody is able to gauge that where exactly this entire operation is leading to
07:48Because iran is still withstanding despite you know all those
07:52Decapitation strike all the elimination of the top leadership iran is still holding the port iran is still able to
07:58hit back
07:59And therefore the european partners beat united kingdom beat france beat italy beat germany
08:04All those you know important nato allies and and big military forces are
08:12No, it's a question that's constantly been asked for what's the end game
08:16Nobody has the answer to that trump has been hasn't been able to offer that and so
08:20At this point other countries are also getting cold feet as a result wondering how long this will go for
08:25That's why they've put their own uh interests
08:28First and therefore trump essentially is not getting any support
08:32But i request you to stay with me another news break coming in let's cut across straight to that
08:44Prime minister modi spoken with the uae president with shaykh mohammad bin zayed al-nayan prime minister modi taking to
08:52social medias
08:52Confirmed the same giving details also of what was discussed in that conversation
08:57Saying that the current situation of west asia was of course the main focal point
09:02He's also said and i quote reiterated india's strong condemnation of all attacks on the uae
09:07That have resulted in the loss of innocent lives and damage to civilian infrastructure
09:12We agreed on the importance of ensuring safe and free navigation through the strait of ormus
09:17This is the message that's come in from prime minister modi on his conversation with the uae president
09:22Remember that uae has been one of the worst hit countries as a result of the conflict between us israel
09:30and iran
09:31So at such a time when dubai abu dhabi and other pockets of uae have been non-stop facing a
09:38barrage of missiles and drones
09:39Prime minister modi sending out a message of condemnation over these kind of attacks the fact that civilians
09:45Have also been casualties of this conflict in the uae i'll bring in pranai once again for more details on
09:52this pranai
09:53Not the first conversation that the prime minister has had with the uae president
09:56But this one's also important the timing of this considering it's not just a message of condemnation of violence
10:02But also on diplomacy on the strait of ormus
10:11Absolutely prime minister modi has also put out the social media post indicating that what all he discussed with the
10:17president of uae
10:18about sheikh mohammed bin zayed al-nayan and he mentioned that uh the the the passage of navigation the strait
10:24of ormus uh
10:25the safety and security and well-being of uh of uh of indians in the region and also he did
10:31discuss about the escalating situation in the region
10:33so so clearly uh you know india it remains an important strategic partner with the united arab emirates and
10:39uh you know in fact the president of uae sheikh mohammed bin zayed al-nayan recently visited india as
10:44recent as 19th of january 2026 uh and you know india and uae are not only strategic partners but large
10:51number of indian community is residing in uae uh if you talk about uh the numbers so so let me
10:56give you the
10:56numbers that you know uh in dubai alone there are 25 lakh indians there and in overall uae uh territory
11:02there
11:02are 45 lakh indians are there in uh in uae so therefore india has legitimate reason to be
11:07concerned about but besides on the front of the diplomatic front if you see akshida uh in fact
11:12uae is also an important member of the brics uh whose current leadership current leadership lies with
11:18india and prime minister narend moody recently spoke to iranian president masood padashian as well
11:23there are regular contacts uh in india is maintaining regular contact with uh with arab nations with the gcc
11:29countries as well as as iran as well uh and uh india has always solicited a case for the diplomatic
11:35solution of uh of these uh these problems and these issues and uh prime minister narend moody uh again
11:41expresses concern about the escalation in the region uh and uh the the kind of impact being sustained by uh
11:48by the united arab amirats because some of the indians also sustained injury in the in the in the drone
11:53and
11:54missile attacks uh you know sustained by uh by united arab amirats all right thanks very much for
12:00getting us those details
12:05but let's get you the big headline that's emerged today uh on the west asia war israel's recent airstrikes
12:12targeting iran's leadership could mark a major major escalation in the ongoing conflict why
12:17because israel claims that ali larijani he's a key figure in tehran's inner circle according to israel
12:25larijani has been killed alongside the commander of the basij forces while iran is yet to release a
12:32statement has released a handwritten note attributed to larijani casting doubt on the claims but mind you
12:38iran with that post hasn't given details or when that handwritten note was put out and the note doesn't
12:43make a mention of the claims being made by israel the strikes signal that israel is aiming at the
12:48core of iran's power structure raising urgent questions about whether regime change is now
12:53an explicit objective how iran chooses to respond could also decisively shape the trajectory of this
12:59conflict in the coming days
13:09this could be the biggest blow to tehran in recent days in a dramatic twist israel has claimed
13:16that ali larijani one of iran's most powerful figures has been killed in targeted airstrikes
13:25this morning we eliminated ali larijani ali larijani is the boss of the revolutionary guards
13:30which is a gang of gangsters that in practice runs iran if confirmed this is far from a routine
13:38battlefield loss in recent days larijani had emerged as a key face of iran's defiance projecting strength
13:47as tehran pushed back against the u.s israel offensive a man widely seen as part of the regime's inner
13:55circle effectively tehran's number two for israel and for donald trump's expanding campaign this would
14:04mark a major tactical victory but the story is far from clear iranian media has released a handwritten
14:13note attributed to larijani raising serious questions about the israeli claims and that's not all
14:21the israeli military has also said it eliminated the commander of iran's powerful besiege force
14:30alongside him we also eliminated the commander of the besiege the helpers of the gangsters who spread
14:36terror in the streets of tehran and other iranian cities against the population we are operating there
14:42as well operating from the air with air force aircraft and with uavs i have just been updated
14:50by the chief of staff that the secretary of the supreme national security council larijani and the
14:55head of basij iran's central repression apparatus who is responsible for the massacre of protesters
15:01were eliminated last night and have joined the head of the annihilation program committee along with
15:07all those eliminated from the axis of evil in the depths of hell a key arm of the irgc tasked
15:15with
15:15enforcing control on the streets and crushing descent two high value targets one clear message nowhere is
15:24off limits israel appears to be targeting the very nerve center of iran's power structure raising a bigger
15:32question is regime change the real objective u.s president donald trump has made it clear he is
15:41ready to expend his entire political capital on ensuring iran's surrender for now tehran has neither
15:50confirmed nor denied larijani's death but how iran responds next could define the course of this war
15:58bureau report india today
16:04now if israel's claim is true that they've killed ali larijani that means that some of the top iranian
16:12leaders have all been assassinated let's break that down for you it of course starts with what
16:17triggered this entire conflict this war of targeting the ayatollah ali khamenei supreme leader of iran
16:24killed in u.s israeli strikes the defense minister of iran aziz nazir zadeh was also killed in the same
16:31strike because this was a strike that happened in building which had some of the most influential
16:35iranian leaders so in one shot u.s and israel managed to get a whole bunch of the iranian top
16:41leadership ali shamkhani secretary of defense council was also killed notice that these are all top iranian
16:48leadership to do with the defense ministry to do with military leadership as well mohammad bakpor who is the
16:53chief of the revolutionary guard was also killed in strikes then you have the armed forces chief
16:58remember that in iran the revolutionary guard is different from the army the armed forces chief has
17:04also been assassinated the head of intelligence has also been killed saleh assadi not much is known but
17:11this is what israel has claimed then you have the chief of the military bureau mohammad shirazi who's also
17:17been killed the uh chairman of the spnd uh hossein jamal has also been killed in strikes by israel
17:27now reza moza farania has also been killed uh and then the latest in the list is ali larijani the
17:35iran
17:36national security council secretary uh close close a number two essentially in iran uh who's also now
17:43been assassinated is what israel has claimed then you have today in the last 24 hours the besiege
17:48force commander part of the revolutionary guard who's also been killed despite this let me highlight
17:54that you see so many names that we've highlighted for you all in the top ring of the iranian leadership
18:02and despite that the iranian regime the structure the government continues intact it tells you that
18:08they've got a robust structure in place exactly for this kind of a neutrality that if the top
18:13leadership is wiped out there's still a second ring that then steps in and performs all necessary
18:17duties which is how they have been able to continue with their counter strikes as well but as we speak
18:23about what's been happening in the west asia conflict it's not the only war unfortunately in 2026
18:29that we're reporting on pakistan and afghanistan closer to india are also at war and in a deadly
18:36overnight airstrike on kabul pakistan hit a drug rehabilitation hospital leaving chaos in its wake
18:44look at those images on your screens rush the rescue teams rushed to pull survivors from the rubble
18:49taliban is reported that 400 patients doctors healthcare workers have been killed over 200 critically
18:58injured pakistan claims the strike targeted terror hideouts but the toll on civilians has now sparked
19:04international outrage leading to serious questions being asked of pakistan
19:24deadly overnight airstrike in afghanistan's kabul triggers fresh crisis between pakistan and the taliban
19:31government pakistan's jihadi general asim munir ordered a strike on a kabul drug rehab hospital
19:39flames tore through entire neighborhoods thick smoke blowing high into the kabul sky rescue teams rushed
19:48to the scene pulling survivors from the rubble as firefighters struggled to control the inferno
19:55that's what's going on in the middle of the hospital in the middle of the hospital
19:56residents say the bombing turned large parts of the area into a war zone within minutes
20:04last year my friends 130 people there were 1266 people 400 were discharged the rest were all here
20:12but disappeared there were 130 people in salon number one there were 40 people here 20 survived others
20:19not what to do around 8 30 pm this incident occurred and aircraft came and dropped two bombs which caused
20:32the destruction you can see many patients remained trapped under the rubble and about 80 to 90 people
20:38were transferred to hospitals
20:46taliban government claims the strike hit the omit drug rehab hospital a 2000 bed medical facility
20:54they claim there is no military installation near the hospital
20:58there was a board in front of the hospital which says added rehabilitation center so
21:15it should be strongly condemned by any human rights advocate
21:24Pakistan however insists the strike were targeting terrorist hideouts and military installations
21:31the kabul attack follows another pakistani operation in kandahar which islamabad says targeted
21:37militant camps pakistan has dubbed the campaign operation gaza bulhaq
21:45in response taliban fighters reportedly attacked a pakistan military camp across the border
21:52india meanwhile has strongly condemned the kabul hospital strike india's western neighbor
21:58is an excellent example of fabricating imaginative tales of islamophobia in their neighborhood
22:04one wonders what would brutal depression of ahmadiyahs in this country be termed
22:08or the large-scale refuel more of the helpless afghans or air bombing campaigns in this holy month of ramadan
22:15with hundreds fear dead anger rising in kabul and tensions escalating along the durand line
22:23the region is once again at the cusp of a dangerous new conflict bureau report india today
22:32and with that update i'm wrapping up this edition of news track thanks very much for tuning in good night
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