Iran’s IRGC Chief "Hossein Salami" Killed in Israeli Airstrikes

Iranian state media confirmed Friday that Major General "Hossein Salami", commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was killed in an Israeli airstrike as part of a large-scale military operation launched early this morning.

State television also reported the deaths of two prominent Iranian nuclear scientists—Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi—who were reportedly killed in the same wave of attacks.

Separately, an Israeli security official, speaking to Agence France-Presse on condition of anonymity, said it is "likely" that Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri was also killed in the pre-dawn strikes. “It is likely that the Iranian Chief of Staff and key nuclear experts were killed in the first strikes,” the official stated.

However, Iranian media has since denied those reports, saying General Bagheri is alive and currently operating from the military’s central operations center. No official statement has been issued by Iranian authorities confirming or denying casualties beyond those announced by state media.

The Israeli military has so far provided limited information, only confirming that dozens of targets were hit across various locations in Iran, but without detailing the exact nature of the targets or casualties.

The reported assassinations mark a major escalation in the region and could trigger significant retaliation, as tension between Israel and Iran reaches a new and dangerous peak. Iran has not yet issued a full official response beyond the state media reports.