Former Iranian foreign minister Kamal Kharazi sustained grave injuries after a US-Israeli airstrike targeted his home in Tehran on Wednesday, Iranian media reported. His wife was killed in the attack, and Kharazi, 81, was hospitalized in critical condition.

Kharazi heads Iran's Strategic Council on Foreign Relations and served as foreign minister from 1997 to 2005. He previously acted as Iran's ambassador to the United Nations and chief nuclear negotiator with the West. A close adviser to the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the initial US-Israeli strikes on February 28, Kharazi also advised Khamenei's son Mojtaba. Recent reports indicated his involvement in backchannel diplomatic efforts, including coordination via Pakistan for potential talks with US Vice President JD Vance.

The strike occurred during the fifth week of the US-Israel war against Iran, which began with the assassinations of top Iranian leaders, including Khamenei. Other senior figures killed include security chief Ali Larijani and Basij force head Gholamreza Soleimani. The conflict has resulted in over 2,000 deaths in Iran, 24 in Israel, and 13 US soldiers in the region.

Neither the US nor Israel has claimed responsibility for the specific attack on Kharazi's residence. US President Donald Trump stated on Wednesday that Iran is "essentially decimated" and that Washington would strike Iran "extremely hard" in the coming weeks as objectives near completion. In a recent CNN interview, Kharazi expressed skepticism about diplomacy, saying, "Trump had been deceiving others and not keeping with his promises, and we experienced this in two rounds of negotiations, that while we were engaged in negotiation, they struck us."

Iranian officials vowed retaliation. Army spokesperson Ebrahim Zolfaghari warned that Tehran would respond with "more crushing, broader and more destructive" attacks, declaring US and Israeli assessments of Iran's capabilities "incomplete." Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei stated, "We will not tolerate this vicious cycle of war, negotiations, ceasefire, and then repeating the same pattern." Iran has denied seeking a ceasefire and continued missile strikes on Israel following Trump's address, injuring several Israelis.

The attack drew attention amid speculation it aimed to disrupt potential diplomatic channels. Iranian outlets like Nour News and newspapers Shargh, Etemad, and Ham Mihan first reported the incident. Separate strikes that day killed four in southern Iran and damaged Tehran's Pasteur Institute.