ISLAMABAD: Chief Commander of Iranโs Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Major General Hossein Salami, has been assassinated in an overnight Israeli airstrike on Tehran, marking a major escalation in Middle East hostilities.
Iranian media confirmed the death on Friday morning, with Tasnim News Agency reporting that multiple senior military and civilian officials were also killed in coordinated strikes targeting high-profile locations in and around the Iranian capital.
The IRGC officially confirmed Salamiโs death in a statement, vowing a strong and united response against Israel, calling upon both Iranโs armed forces and the broader Islamic Umma.
Nuclear Scientists Among the Dead
Among those killed in the Israeli strikes were two prominent Iranian nuclear scientists: Mohammad-Mehdi Tehranchi, president of Islamic Azad University, and Fereydoun Abbasi, former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.
Both were assassinated in what are being described as separate but coordinated Israeli operations, according to Tasnim.
The targeted assassinations are being seen as part of Israelโs broader campaign to dismantle Iranโs nuclear infrastructure and disrupt its military leadership.
Also reported killed was Major General Gholamali Rashid, commander of the powerful Khatam al-Anbia Headquarters, a key military command center within the IRGC.
Strikes Across Multiple Cities
In addition to Tehran, Israeli airstrikes reportedly hit various military and strategic sites in other Iranian cities, although no full casualty figures have yet been released.
The precision and scale of the operation indicate a significant intelligence and operational effort, likely intended to cripple Iranโs defensive and nuclear capabilities in a single blow.
As of now, Iran has not officially announced its response plan, but the IRGC warned of a โstrong and calculatedโ retaliation in the coming hours or days.
This marks one of the most serious escalations in years, with both regional and global implications.
