Iran confirms deaths of 8 more senior commanders in Israeli attacks

Tehran: Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has confirmed that eight other senior commanders of its aerospace division were killed in Israel’s Friday airstrikes on the capital, Tehran.

In a statement published on its official news outlet Sepah News, the IRGC extended condolences over the “martyrdom” of its senior commanders, Xinhua reported.

It listed the slain commanders as Mahmoud Bagheri, Davoud Sheikhian, Mohammad-Bagher Taherpour, Mansour Safarpour, Masoud Tayyeb, Khosrow Hassani, Javad Jorsara, and Mohammad Aghajafari.

Israel early Friday launched airstrikes on Tehran and other Iranian cities, hitting nuclear facilities and killing a number of Iran’s top military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. It continued its attacks on different parts of Iran on Saturday and Sunday.

Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri, IRGC’s Chief Commander Hossein Salami, Commander of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters Gholam-Ali Rashid, and Commander of the IRGC’s Aerospace Division Amir Ali Hajizadeh were assassinated in the Israeli airstrikes on Tehran.

In response, Iran on Friday and Saturday nights launched several waves of missile attacks against targets in Israel, inflicting casualties and heavy damage.

In Israel, a rocket struck a residential building in a northern community, killing one woman and injuring 13 others, according to Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s national emergency medical service.

Several others sustained moderate to light injuries, and four individuals were treated for anxiety, MDA said.

Earlier in the day, MDA reported that at least three people had been killed and 204 others injured since the beginning of the Iranian offensive, Xinhua news agency reported.

Following the latest wave of attacks, Israel’s Home Front Command advised residents outside the Haifa and northern regions that they could exit bomb shelters but should remain close to protected areas.

The Israeli military said that its air defence systems were actively intercepting incoming projectiles, while Israeli air force units were carrying out strikes on military targets in Tehran.

IANS