New Delhi, March 19 -- Ali Larijani, a top Iranian security official and a conservative force within Iran's theocracy, was killed in an Israeli strike, Iranian authorities confirmed Tuesday. He was 67.

Larijani was widely believed to be running the country following the killing of its supreme leader in U.S. and Israeli strikes late last month that sparked a widening war. Israel said earlier Tuesday that it had killed Larijani, but it was several hours before Iran confirmed his death.

He had been appointed to advise Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on strategy in nuclear talks with the Trump administration and traveled to Oman to meet with mediators just two weeks before the war began. Like other top Iranian leaders, Larijani was un...