IRGC Chief Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, others assassinated in Israeli strikes

Israeli airstrikes on Tehran and other Iranian cities early Friday have reportedly assassinated several top Iranian military and nuclear figures, including the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to Iranian state-affiliated media.

Tasnim news agency reported that Major General Hossein Salami, the chief commander of the IRGC, was killed in an overnight strike on the Iranian capital.

Salami, a central figure in Iran’s security establishment and a longtime architect of its regional military strategy, was reportedly at a military facility in Tehran at the time of the attack.

Among others reported killed were Major General Gholamali Rashid, commander of the Khatam al-Anbia Headquarters, and two prominent nuclear scientists — Fereydoun Abbasi, a former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, and Mohammad-Mehdi Tehranchi, president of the Islamic Azad University.

The strikes are being linked to a broader Israeli military operation that targeted multiple military and nuclear sites across Iran, including facilities in Natanz and Isfahan.

The coordinated operation, dubbed “Rising Lion” by Israeli media, is widely seen as a preemptive move aimed at crippling Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and military command chain.

Read more: Israel strikes Iran nuclear facilities, missile factories

The attacks come amid heightened tensions in the region and just days before the scheduled resumption of US–Iran nuclear negotiations in Oman.

Israeli officials have justified the operation as a defensive measure, while Iranian leaders have condemned it as an act of aggression and promised a decisive response.

Airspace over parts of Iran, Iraq, and Israel was temporarily closed in the aftermath of the strikes, reflecting concerns over a potential regional escalation.

Meanwhile, international markets reacted sharply, with oil prices surging and regional stock exchanges experiencing notable declines.