Israel made dozens of strikes in Iran on Friday, hit nuclear and military sites and killed several commanders and nuclear scientists. Israel has hit the key underground nuclear place several times in Natanz, Iranian state television said, reporting that most of the damage was on “surface level”.
Other strikes were hit by places in the northwest of Iran, with eight people killed in Tabriz and near Isna, ISNA.
The revolutionary guards said his Aviation Commander, Amiri Hajizadeh, was also killed. He was in charge of the Iranian ballistic missile forces.
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Iranian media said several nuclear scientists were killed.
Iran responded by launching drones against Israel and called the Israeli attack by the “declaration of war”.
The most powerful Iranian men killing in Israeli strikes
The head of the Iranian Revolutionary Rangers, Hossein Salami and the Chief of the Staff of his Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri, were killed in the Israeli wave of raids, with a replacing rapidly named Ali Khamenei leader, the news agency reported.
Iranian state television network Irinn said on Friday that senior advisor Khamenei Ali Shamkhani was also killed during an unprecedented operation of Israel Rising Lion.
General Mohammad Bagheri was an Iranian military official. Bagheri was born Mohammad-Hossein Afshordi in Tehran, but there are contradictory reports of his year of birth. Some, including the US Treasury, say he was born in Tehran in 1960, while others report the year 1958.
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Bagheri was the head of the Iranian military officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). Since 2016, Bagheri has worked as the chief of the armed forces of the Iranian Islamic Republic – the highest military position in the country.
Military intelligence expert, Bagher joined IRGC in 1980 and fought in the War of Iran’s-Iraq in the 80s. Bagheri won an engineering title and later received a doctoral title from political geography at Tarbiyat-e Modares University.
Bagheri was promoted to the new Chairman of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (Afg) from his previous position as a representative of the staff for news and the Operation of the General Staff on 28 June 2016 and replaced Hassan Firouzabadi, who held his place for twenty -seven years.
One of the most powerful men in Iran, Major General Hossein Salami was the head of the secret Irgc. According to the CNN report, he supervised Iran’s strongest military hand and directly reported to the highest leader Khamenei.
According to the American sanction document with Salami, he was born in 1960 and since 2019 he led IRGC. “The position saw him holding one of the strongest instruments dominated by an Iranian state that was helpful in crushing the dissent at home and screening of Iranian power abroad,” the report said.
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IRGC reportedly funds and supports Yemen’s Houthis, allows the terrorist group to hit international transport in the Red Sea and start missiles and drones in Israel.
Salami was at the helm when he launched hundreds of drones and missiles in Israel in April and October last year, in the first direct strikes of Iran on Israeli territory.
It was under the leadership of Salami, when Irgc shortly after taking off from International Airport in Tehran, he killed all 176 people aboard the Ukrainian beam of the Ukrainian passenger. The unnamed commander IRGC was sentenced to 13 years in prison.
Who was Ali Shamkhani?
Ali Shamkhani, a close helper for Khamenei, represented Tehran on interviews that closed the landmark to restore diplomatic ties with the enemy of Saudi Arabia.
Since 2013, he has been the highest Iranian National Security official for decades before working in a number of important roles, including IRGC, and the Ministry of Defense, the CNN report said.
He was a rising star of Iranian diplomacy, known in foreign policy circles in Washington and Europe.
Shamkhani was represented by Iran in Chinese interviews with Saudi officials who led both countries to agree to restore diplomatic ties after years of hostility. But it was suddenly replaced in mid -2023, the report added.
(With the entry from agencies)
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