Tehran death toll rises as Israel pounds Iran in massive airstrikes
Shafaq News/ At least 78 people were killed and 329 wounded in Israeli airstrikes on residential areas in Tehran, Iranian media reported Friday, as Israel launched three waves of attacks targeting nuclear, military, and strategic infrastructure across Iran.
According to Iran's semi-official Noor News, the casualty toll comes amid the most severe Israeli assault on Iranian soil in decades. Fars News confirmed that Major General Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was among those killed in a strike on the IRGC's central headquarters in Tehran. Also confirmed dead are General Gholam Ali Rashid, deputy commander of Iran's military, and prominent nuclear scientists Fereydoon Abbasi and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi. The Ahmadi Roshan nuclear facility at Natanz was also hit, alongside reports of the death of professor Ahmad Reza Zoulfaghari.
A senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Ali Shamkhani, was reportedly critically wounded and transferred to a hospital.
The Israeli military said it had completed a targeted operation destroying dozens of Iranian surface-to-surface missile launchers, storage sites, and key military positions. Channel 12 in Israel reported that Mehrabad Airport in Tehran and Bushehr Airport, both used by the Iranian Air Force, were struck during the assault. Iranian reports confirmed repeated strikes on Nujah Air Base in Hamadan province.
Furthermore, the Border Guard Commander of Iran's West Azerbaijan province confirmed that an Israeli strike destroyed an IRGC military camp near the Iraqi border, raising concerns about potential spillover effects and increasing Iraqi vulnerability in the conflict.
Iranian state TV acknowledged that the Natanz uranium enrichment site was hit multiple times, though no nuclear contamination had been detected so far. The attacks also extended to the cities of Tabriz in the northwest and Kermanshah in the southwest, signaling the breadth of Israel's ongoing Operation Rising Lion.
As the assault unfolded, Iran closed its airspace 'until further notice' and placed all vital infrastructure under maximum alert. Fighter jets were seen flying over the northeastern city of Mashhad, reflecting the elevated state of readiness.
An Iranian security official told Reuters that Tehran is preparing a 'painful' retaliation for the Israeli operation, while Israel remains on high alert after Iran launched more than 100 drones in its initial response, according to an Israeli official.
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