IRGC air force chief among dozens killed in Israeli strikes on Iran

Shafaq News/ Israel’s military confirmed Friday the killing of Major General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Aerospace Force, in a high-impact strike carried out deep inside Iranian territory.

Israeli and Iranian media also reported the deaths of at least 20 senior Iranian military commanders in the attacks. Among them was Brigadier General Mehdi Rabbani, deputy for operations at Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff, who was reportedly killed along with his wife and children. Iranian outlets confirmed the death of Brigadier General Davoud Shekhiyan, commander of the IRGC’s Aerospace Air Defense division, in a strike that hit a strategic site near Tehran.

The fatalities add to an already substantial list of Iranian leaders killed in Israel’s Operation Rising Lion, including Major General Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of the IRGC; Major General Mohammad Bagheri, chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces; and Major General Gholam Ali Rashid, commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters. Also confirmed dead are Fereydoon Abbasi, the former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran; Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, president of Azad University; and Ahmad Reza Zoulfaghari, a prominent nuclear engineering professor.

Separately, reports from Iranian and Israeli media indicated that a new Israeli strike took place near Tabriz Airport in northwestern Iran, suggesting that Israel’s aerial campaign is continuing beyond the initial wave of attacks.

Since the start of the strikes, Iran has shut down its airspace, elevated its military alert level, and launched more than 800 drones toward Israeli territory in what appears to be the Islamic Republic’s first direct military retaliation.