Israel launched a wave of attacks overnight on Friday targeting top Iranian officials, marking a major escalation in the shadow conflict between the two countries.
According to Iranian state media, the strikes killed several senior figures, including the head of Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Hossein Salami.
The semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported that Mr. Salami was killed in the Iranian capital, Tehran. As the commander of the IRGC, he played a key role in managing Iran’s ties with proxy groups like Hezbollah, which Israel has long viewed as a direct threat.
Tasnim also reported that at least three other senior Iranian figures were believed to have been killed in the strikes. These included Gholamali Rashid, deputy commander of the Iranian armed forces; Mohammad Mehdi Tehranji, an Iranian physicist; and Fereydoun Abbasi, a prominent nuclear scientist.
Israel has previously carried out targeted assassinations of Iranian military and nuclear figures, but typically one at a time, and often outside Iranian borders in countries like Syria or Lebanon. This latest strike signals a notable shift in strategy.
According to two Israeli defence officials, the operation aimed not only at Iran’s nuclear and air defence infrastructure but also sought to eliminate multiple top figures in a single blow. Among the additional targets was Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces. His current condition is unknown, and Iranian authorities have not yet issued a statement about him.
The Israeli officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to comment publicly, also said the strikes hit other senior IRGC commanders and leading nuclear scientists.
These coordinated strikes represent a sharp intensification of Israel’s long-running campaign to cripple Iran’s military and nuclear capabilities.
(New York Times)
