Israel has confirmed the deaths of multiple high-ranking Iranian military officials and nuclear scientists in a sweeping aerial assault targeting Tehran and other strategic sites, an escalation that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as a "preemptive strike" to dismantle Iran's nuclear ambitions and curb regional aggression.
The strikes, part of "Operation Rising Lion," involved over 200 Israeli fighter jets and targeted Iran's nuclear infrastructure and military leadership. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said, "We can now confirm that the Chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Commander of the IRGC and the Commander of Iran's Emergency Command were all eliminated in the Israeli strikes across Iran." The IDF described them as "three ruthless mass murderers with international blood on their hands."
Iran quickly vowed retaliation, with state media reporting the launch of roughly 100 drones aimed at Israeli targets. Jordan confirmed drones had entered its airspace overnight. Tehran's official response emphasized that Iran was not the initiator of war, adding ominously, "the end of this story will be written by Iran's hand."
Among those killed was Major General Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), one of the most powerful figures in the country. He had held the position since 2019 and reported directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Known for overseeing covert operations abroad and internal crackdowns, Salami once said following the U.S. assassination of Qasem Soleimani: "If they [Israel and the U.S.] threaten our commanders, none of their commanders will find a safe place."
Also confirmed dead was Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Iran's armed forces Chief of Staff, responsible for an estimated 600,000 active military personnel. According to a 2019 U.S. Treasury sanctions notice, Bagheri oversaw Iran's highest military policymaking body. He met with Saudi defense officials as recently as April, when he was urged to consider then-President Trump's nuclear deal proposal as a path to avoid conflict with Israel.
General Gholamali Rashid, deputy armed forces commander and head of the Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters, was killed along with his son. Rashid was central to Iran's drone warfare operations. Earlier this year, he publicly warned that any attack on Iran's nuclear facilities would be met with "retaliation at unprecedented scale."
The operation also took out Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC's Air Force, and the architect behind missile attacks on Israel and U.S. forces in Iraq. He had been pivotal in Iran's direct strike on Israel in April 2024 and had developed underground weapons programs previously inspected by state media.
Former national security chief Ali Shamkhani, a close aide to Ayatollah Khamenei and the diplomat who led the 2023 normalization deal with Saudi Arabia, was among those killed. Known for his moderate pragmatism, Shamkhani was described as a rising political figure who warned just weeks before his death that Iran might expel UN nuclear inspectors if provoked.
In addition to military commanders, several top nuclear scientists were killed, including Fereydoon Abbasi, the former head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization and a sitting member of Parliament; Mohammad Mahdi Tehranchi, a physicist linked to the AMAD nuclear weapons program and president of Islamic Azad University; and Seyed Amir Hossein Feqhi, deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization and faculty at Shahid Beheshti University.
Prime Minister Netanyahu defended the strike, warning, "Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time... This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat."
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio clarified that the United States had no involvement in the strike. "We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region," Rubio said. "Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel."
Former President Donald Trump, posting on Truth Social, claimed he had given Iran "chance after chance" to reach a deal. "They are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse," Trump wrote. "There is still time to make this slaughter... come to an end. Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left."
