Israel Targets Leadership of Iran’s Armed Forces and IRGC

Israel neutralized the top leadership of Iran’s Armed Forces and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The Iranian state media IRNA reported this.

This comes as a result of Israeli strikes early on the morning of June 13, which targeted the destruction of nuclear and military facilities as well as command centers.

It is reported that Major General Mohammad Bagheri, who served as the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, and Major General Hossein Salami, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, were killed.

As a result of the Israeli strikes, Major General Gholam Ali Rashid, the commander of the Khatam al-Anbia Headquarters, was also killed.

In addition, nuclear scientist and president of Azad Islamic University Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, as well as nuclear scientist and former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Fereydoon Abbasi, were neutralized.

Later, the Iranian state news agency Tasnim reported that a total of six Iranian nuclear scientists were killed as a result of the Israeli strikes.

A distinctive feature of the organizational structure of the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces is the presence of two independent components within them – the regular army and the military formations of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), each of which has its own ground forces, air forces, and navy with corresponding command bodies.

The elimination of three high-ranking generals and scientists working on the nuclear program at once indicates that Israel had intelligence about their whereabouts at the time of the strike.

This creates serious challenges for the leadership of Iran and its counterintelligence.

Early on the morning of June 13, Israel officially announced a preemptive strike on Iran and warned of a possible missile and drone attack from the Iranian side in response.

Iran declared that it would give a harsh response to the Israeli strike and launched its Shahed kamikaze drones at Israel.