Iran appoints new military chiefs after Israeli strikes kill top commanders

Tehran: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Friday appointed new military commanders following the deaths of key security officials in Israeli airstrikes on Tehran, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.

The appointments come after Israel launched a wave of airstrikes early Friday targeting Tehran and other Iranian cities. The strikes killed Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri, Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander Hossein Salami, and Gholam-Ali Rashid, head of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, according to the Iranian media.

Khamenei named Abdolrahim Mousavi as the new chief of staff of the armed forces, Mohammad Pakpour as the IRGC’s new commander, and Ali Shadmani to lead the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, IRNA said.

Before their appointments, Mousavi headed the regular army, Pakpour commanded the IRGC’s Ground Force, and Shadmani served as deputy coordinator at Khatam al-Anbiya.

In addition to the top military leaders, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said the Israeli strikes also killed six Iranian nuclear scientists, including Mohammad-Mehdi Tehranchi and Fereydoun Abbasi, as well as an unspecified number of civilians, Xinhua news agency reported.

In a statement on Friday, Khamenei condemned the attacks, warning that Israel would face “severe punishment” for what he called a crime against Iran.

Earlier in the day, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) claimed eliminating three of Iran’s top military leaders in overnight airstrikes that rocked multiple cities across the Islamic Republic.

“We can now confirm that the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Commander of the Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and the Commander of Iran’s Emergency Command were all eliminated in the Israeli strikes across Iran by more than 200 fighter jets. These are three ruthless mass murderers with international blood on their hands. The world is a better place without them,” the IDF said in a post on X.

The statement marked a new peak in the long-simmering confrontation between Israel and Iran, triggering fears of a full-scale regional conflict.

While Iranian officials have yet to confirm the deaths of these senior commanders, Iranian state media confirmed on Friday the killing of IRGC Commander Hossein Salami in an Israeli strike.

It also reported that loud explosions were heard in Tehran and other cities during the early hours of Friday, according to IRIB, Iran’s state broadcaster.

The Israeli strikes, described by officials as a “targetted military operation”, were confirmed in a televised address by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the mission aimed to “roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival.”

“This operation will take as long as is needed to complete the task of fending off the threat of annihilation against us,” Netanyahu declared.

Defence Minister Israel Katz described the action as a “preemptive strike”, and declared a special state of emergency across Israel to ensure national security readiness.

The military action follows mounting tension over Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

Earlier this week, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council had warned that any attack on its territory would trigger immediate retaliation, including strikes on Israel’s nuclear facilities, which Tehran claims to have identified through recent Intelligence operations.

IANS