Israel Defense Forces kills top Iranian defense leaders in Tehran airstrikes
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Dozens of Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, were killed during large-scale and coordinated attacks against Iran, the Israeli military said on Saturday.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it targeted a number of places in Tehran where “high-ranking officials of Iran’s defense establishment gather.”
More than 40 senior Iranian security and regime officials were eliminated in the attacks, a senior Israeli security official told Fox News.
The official added that this was one of the largest regime “decapitation operations” carried out in the history of modern warfare. The official said that Israeli intelligence managed to infiltrate Iranian security levels and made the attacks possible.
The Israeli military said on Saturday it had killed dozens of members of Iran’s leadership, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during sweeping US-coordinated attacks on Iran. (Iranian Leader Press Office/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Among those killed, according to the IDF, was Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Security Council and also a personal advisor to Iran’s supreme leader.
The IDF said that Mohammed Pakpour, who was also killed, had been the Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard since Operation Rising Lion and was one of the leaders of the plan to “destroy Israel”.
Saleh Asadi, who heads the Khatam al-Anbiya emergency command Intelligence Directorate; Mohammed Shirazi, head of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s Military Bureau since 1989; Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasserzadeh; Hossein Jabal Amelian, who heads an organization that develops projects related to nuclear, biological and chemical weapons; According to the IDF, Reza Mozaffari-Nia, who previously headed the same organization, was also killed.
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Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasserzade was killed in Saturday’s attacks. (IDF)
President Donald Trump also confirmed Saturday that Khamenei was killed in the attacks.
“Khamenei, one of the worst people in history, is dead,” Trump wrote in his Truth Social post. “This is justice not only for the people of Iran, but also for all Great Americans and people from many countries of the world who were killed or maimed by Khamenei and his bloodthirsty gang of STUFF.”
The leaders were all meeting at a compound in Tehran on Saturday morning.
IRGC commander Mohammed Pakpour was killed in Saturday’s attacks. (IDF)
Multiple sources speaking to Fox News said that the attacks were increased due to the “target of opportunity” and that they took place during daylight hours, preserving the element of surprise in Iran.
“A deliberate decision was made to accelerate the timeline,” a source said.
It was reported that Ali Shamkhani, an advisor to the religious leader, was among those killed. (IDF)
“This was a massive, extremely bold daytime attack,” a senior US defense official told Fox News. “It caught senior leadership off guard on a Saturday morning during Ramadan and during the day on Shabbat.”
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“We shot senior leaders outside the door.”
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