Reports indicate that nearly 20 senior Iranian military commanders were killed by Israel during its airstrikes on Iran last Friday.
The strikes were carried out by about 200 Israeli warplanes, including advanced F-35 fighter jets.
Iran has confirmed that at least three top commanders of its military were among those killed.
On Friday, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations stated that 78 people had died in the Israeli attacks, which Tel Aviv claims targeted Iran’s nuclear weapons development sites. Additionally, around 320 others were injured.
Those killed included high-ranking military officials, renowned scientists, and senior political figures.
Among the dead was Major General Mohammad Bagheri, the Commander of Iran’s Ground Forces and second in command in the military hierarchy after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Bagheri was replaced on Friday by Maj. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi.
Also killed was Gen. Hossein Salami, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), considered Iran’s primary military force. He has since been replaced by Gen. Mohammad Pakpour.
The third senior general eliminated by Israel was Gen. Gholamali Rashid, the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Armed Forces.
Others killed include:
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Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of Iran’s Air Forces
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Gholamali Rashid, Commander of Khatam-al Anbiya Headquarters, Iran’s central military operations center
In addition to these generals, Iran also lost Ali Shamkhani, a highly trusted political advisor to Ayatollah Khamenei, who had been leading nuclear disarmament talks between Iran and the United States.
Among the scientists killed were:
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Fereydoon Abbasi, former head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (2011–2013), later a Member of Parliament (2020–2024)
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Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, President of Azad University in Tehran
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Abdulhamid Minouchehr, head of nuclear weapons research at Shahid Beheshti University
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Ahmad Reza Zolfaghari, a professor specializing in nuclear weapons at the same university
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Amirhossein Feqhi, who held a similar academic role there
