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Iran leaders killed, Israel-US strikes target Tehran command

From Ali Khamenei to Ali Larijani, senior officials killed in coordinated raids

At least a dozen senior Iranian officials have been killed in a coordinated military operation carried out by the United States and Israel, targeting the leadership structure in Tehran.

The first high-profile casualty was Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader since 1989, who was killed on February 28 along with five members of his family in an airstrike on a residential compound in central Tehran.

The latest reported killing is Ali Larijani, head of Iran’s National Security Council and widely described as the country’s de facto leader. He was killed in an Israeli air raid targeting a bunker where he had taken shelter with his son.

According to Israeli officials, the operation is part of a broader campaign aimed at neutralizing what they describe as a security threat posed by Iran and, as stated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, potentially enabling regime change.

Among those killed are at least five senior military commanders. These include Ali Shamkhani, a close adviser to the late Supreme Leader and former secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. Already seriously wounded during the 12-day war in June, Shamkhani was killed on the first day of the new offensive.

Also killed on February 28 were Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh, Revolutionary Guard commander Mohammad Pakpour, and armed forces chief of staff Abdolrahim Mousavi. In the same strike, Mohammad Shirazi, who had led the Supreme Leader’s military office since 1989, was also killed.

On the same day Larijani was reported killed, the Israeli military said it had also eliminated Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij paramilitary forces, known for their role in suppressing anti-government protests. His deputy, Qasim Qureshi, was also killed.

Israeli sources further reported that Rahman Makdem, head of the Revolutionary Guards’ Special Operations Division, and Salah Asadi, intelligence chief at Iran’s military emergency headquarters, were killed in the initial wave of strikes.

Among the officials targeted were also figures linked to Iran’s defense and weapons programs. Israel identified Reza Mozaffari Nia, former director of advanced weapons development at the Organization for Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND), and Hossein Jabal Amelian, current head of the same organization, as having been killed in the operation.

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