Iranian state media has confirmed the deaths of nine of its senior military leaders, as well as nine nuclear scientists.
In the early morning hours on June 13, Israeli forces launched a surprise attack aimed at degrading Iran’s offensive military capabilities and preventing the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
In addition to targeting key military bases and nuclear facilities, Israeli forces have directly targeted Iran’s military leadership, as well as the country’s leading nuclear scientists.
Dubbed Operation “Rising Lion,” the initial Israeli surprise attack has grown into an ongoing offensive military campaign reaching targets throughout Iran.
Within the first day of the operation, Iran had confirmed the deaths of its top three military commanders: Iranian armed forces chief of staff Lt. Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri; Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Lt. Gen. Hossein Salami; and Lt. Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid, who led the Khatam-al Anbiya central headquarters, which serves as a unified combatant command for Iran’s conventional forces as well as the IRGC.
Iran has confirmed that Fereydoun Abbasi, a top Iranian nuclear engineer, was also among those killed in the ongoing Israeli operation.
In a June 13 televised address announcing the new military campaign, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes will continue “for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.”
Military Leaders
Along with eliminating the top three Iranian military officers, Israeli forces have claimed their strikes have continued to dismantle the Iranian military leadership structure.
Exact casualties are difficult to confirm, but Iranian officials and state media sites have acknowledged several of their military leaders have been killed.
On June 14, Iran’s state-run PressTV reported Brig. Gens. Gholamreza Mehrabi and Mehdi Rabbani were killed in the initial wave of Israeli strikes in the early morning hours on June 13. The Iranian outlet described Mehrabi as the deputy for intelligence for the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, and Rabbani as the deputy for operations for the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces.
Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the IRGC’s aerospace component, was also killed on the first day of the Israeli strikes, according to PressTV.
PressTV, on June 15, reported Brig. Gen. Mohammad Kazemi, who led the IRGC’s main intelligence component, was killed in an Israeli strike alongside his deputy, Mohammad Hassan Mohaghegh. Also killed in the strike was Mohsen Baqeri, whom the Israeli government had identified as a high-ranking intelligence officer working for the IRGC’s Quds Force component.
By Ryan Morgan
