logo
Who was among Iran's top military officials killed in Israeli strikes?

Who was among Iran's top military officials killed in Israeli strikes?

Euronews6 hours ago

Since the start of the Israel-Iran conflict on Friday, Israel has killed several high-ranking members of the Iranian leadership.
While 16 were confirmed dead, more than 20 senior officials of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other top commanders were among those targeted in Israel's attacks.
Who are the top military officials killed so far? Euronews brings you the list.
Chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces since 2016, Bagheri was killed in an Israeli missile strike on Thursday night, at the very onset of Israel's attack on Iran.
He was one of the highest-ranking officers in the Iranian military, ranking second only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
He coordinated Iran's armed forces—both the regular army and paramilitary units—and played a central role in shaping the regime's military doctrine.
Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC, Salami was also close to the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. Salami was one of the hardest on Iran's rivals, notably Israel and the United States.
A combatant in the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988) and an early member of the Revolutionary Guards, Salami served as the organisation's deputy for nine years before becoming its commander in 2019.
Rashid was deputy commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the head of the IRGC's Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters, responsible for coordinating joint military operations.
A veteran of the Iran-Iraq War, too, he welcomed the fact that Iran had regional allies opposed to Israel and the US, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon or the Houthis in Yemen.
Hajizadeh was the commander of the IRGC's Aerospace Force. He led Iran's missile program and was responsible for the April 2024 missile attack on Israel.
Head of intelligence for the Revolutionary Guards, Kazemi was killed in an Israeli strike on Sunday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu first announced his death that evening during an interview on US TV channel Fox News. Tehran confirmed the news a few hours later.
Some other brigadier generals and senior officers were killed, including Mohsen Bagheri, Davood Shekhian, Mohammad Bagher Taherpour, Mansour Safarpour, Masoud Tayeb, Khosro Hassani, Mohammad Jafari and Javad Jarsara.
In addition, sources have told domestic media in Israel that as many as 14 top nuclear scientists were also killed in Israel's targeted attacks since Friday.
The former head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation was among the prominent scientists whose death has been confirmed. He also previously served as a member of the Iranian parliament.
In 2010, he survived an assassination attempt that Iran attributed to Israel—an accusation Israel neither confirmed nor denied.
A German court has sentenced a Syrian doctor to life imprisonment for killing two people and torturing nine others in his homeland between 2011 and 2012.
The Frankfurt Higher Regional Court delivered the verdict after a trial that lasted almost three and a half years.
The 40-year-old defendant, identified only as Alaa M due to German privacy law, was accused of committing crimes against perceived opponents of the Assad regime at military hospitals in Homs and Mezzeh at the start of the Syrian civil war.
The man, who later worked as an orthopaedic surgeon in northern Hesse, was detained in Germany in 2020 and was charged with murder, torture and crimes against humanity.
Alaa M pleaded not guilty, alleging that he was the victim of a conspiracy.
However, the Frankfurt court established that the particular gravity of his guilt, meaning that he is unlikely to be released after 15 years, as is often the case in Germany when people receive life sentences.
Christoph Koller, the presiding judge, told the German news agency dpa that the doctor had sadistic tendencies.
'Above all, the accused enjoyed harming people that seemed inferior and low-value to him,' Koller said.
"No torturer can be certain of impunity, no matter where he is," he added.
Koller said the Syrian doctor's sentencing would not have been possible without the willingness and courage of witnesses to share the details of their suffering.
Alaa M travelled to Germany in 2015 and worked as an orthopaedic surgeon in clinics in Hessisch Lichtenau (Werra-Meißner) and Bad Wildungen (Waldeck-Frankenberg).
His trial began in 2022, two years after his arrest, which occurred after witnesses recognised him from a documentary about Homs.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Germany and France increase security at Jewish sites amid Iran threat
Germany and France increase security at Jewish sites amid Iran threat

Euronews

timean hour ago

  • Euronews

Germany and France increase security at Jewish sites amid Iran threat

Germany has announced it is increasing security around Israeli and Jewish sites within its borders due to growing concerns about potential attacks from Iran. France has also put similar measures in place. Amichai Chikli, Israel's Minister for Diaspora Affairs, spoke to Euronews, warning that the threat to Jewish communities and Israeli embassies is now greater than ever. "It is obvious that after we managed to hit the top leadership of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, they would want revenge and to hit Israeli embassies, [and] Jewish communities, and therefore we need to be much more alert than usual," Chikli said. "We are monitoring everything we can based on OSINT. And obviously we have security services who are working with foreign security services to make sure that embassies, Jewish community centres are being protected." The recent protests in Brussels have raised alarm for the safety of the Jewish community in Belgium. At least 75,000 people participated in the "red line" protests against Israel's actions in Gaza on Sunday. Chikli expressed his concerns regarding the violence and anti-Semitic sentiment visible during the march. "We are highly concerned about what's happening now in Belgium. We see violent demonstrations. We see signs of 'wanted people' against Jewish leaders, rabbis in the streets of Belgium and we've seen no condemnation. We've seen no action from the authorities in Belgium and we hope that we will be able to see more serious steps to protect the Jewish community in Belgium," Chikli said. In response to Israel's recent attack on Iran, EU leaders have called for restraint and diplomacy. The President of the European Commission reaffirmed Israel's right to defend itself and protect its citizens, while urging all parties to work towards a peaceful resolution.

Trump urges Iran to talk as G7 looks for common ground
Trump urges Iran to talk as G7 looks for common ground

France 24

time2 hours ago

  • France 24

Trump urges Iran to talk as G7 looks for common ground

Host Canada had designed the summit in the Rockies resort of Kananaskis to paper over differences within the bloc of major industrial democracies, as Trump returns to the global stage in his norm-shattering second term. But two days before the summit, Israel launched a surprise, massive military attack on Iran, which had been in negotiations with the Trump administration over the cleric-run state's contested nuclear program. Trump, who has praised Israel's strikes despite his stated preference for diplomacy, said he believed a negotiated settlement remained "achievable." "It's painful for both parties, but I'd say Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately, before it's too late," Trump told reporters as he met Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Israel has struck major nuclear and military sites and killed leading commanders and nuclear scientists in Iran, which has responded with its own volley of drones and missiles on Israel. Canada and European leaders have looked to draft a statement on the crisis, although it looks set to stop short of demanding a ceasefire. Leaders will discuss the statement Monday evening, a diplomat said. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that G7 leaders share concern about Iran's nuclear program but there is "absolutely a focus on how we de-escalate this and that will be a central focus as we go into the talks." "I do think there's a consensus for de-escalation," Starmer told reporters. Pressure on Iran German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that a text being put forward by the Europeans would put the onus on Iran. "We'll highlight again that Iran must never possess material that would allow it to produce nuclear weapons," Merz said. "We'll highlight the legitimate right of the state of Israel to defend itself and we will also discuss potential additional measures to reach a diplomatic solution," he said. Unusually, Japan -- which has historic relations with Iran and limited domestic pressure on the Middle East -- has broken with its Western allies and is the only G7 nation that has criticized Israel. Israel's strikes while diplomacy was ongoing were "completely unacceptable and deeply regrettable," Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said. Iran, since Trump pulled out of an earlier nuclear deal in 2018, has ramped up uranium enrichment but not at levels to create a number bomb. Israel is widely known to have nuclear weapons but does not acknowledge them publicly. 'I'm a tariff person' The summit at a wooded resort under still snow-topped mountains comes after months of tumult on the global stage since Trump's return. Trump, seeking to shatter a decades-old US-led global economic order, has vowed sweeping tariffs on friends and foes alike although he has postponed implementation until July 9. Trump has also mocked host Canada, imposing economic pressure and repeatedly stating that the vast but less populated neighbor should become the 51st US state. Trump said he was optimistic about reaching a solution on trade as he met Carney, a staid former central banker who has appeared to win more respect from the US leader since succeeding the flashier Justin Trudeau in March. "I'm a tariff person," Trump told Carney. "It's simple, it's easy, it's precise, and it just goes very quickly." "I think Mark has a more complex idea, but also very good." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to join the G7 talks on Tuesday and to speak to Trump, who had initially tried to force him into a deal with Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022. Trump has since voiced frustration that Russian President Vladimir Putin has not accepted a US proposal for a ceasefire. The US president has previously mused about readmitting Russia to the G8, from which it was expelled in 2014 after invading and annexing Ukraine's region of Crimea, triggering a war which accelerated in 2022 with a full-scale Russian invasion. Trump said Monday that Putin was "very insulted" by the G8 expulsion and that if Russia were still a member, "you wouldn't have a war right now." © 2025 AFP

Gunmen shoot municipal mayor of southern Mexican state dead
Gunmen shoot municipal mayor of southern Mexican state dead

Euronews

time3 hours ago

  • Euronews

Gunmen shoot municipal mayor of southern Mexican state dead

Gunmen have shot dead the mayor of the Mexican municipality of San Mateo Piñas in the southern state of Oaxaca. The killing of Lilia Gema García Soto on Sunday morning is the latest deadly attack on elected officials in Mexico and García Soto is the second mayor to be killed in the state this year. Witnesses told local media that armed men arrived on motorcycles and burst into the city hall, shooting at the mayor and a local official, Eli García Ramírez, who was meeting with her. The governor of Oaxaca, Salomón Jara Cruz, condemned the killing. "There can be no impunity for this incident. We will collaborate with the State Attorney General's Office to clarify the facts and deliver justice. My condolences to her family," he said in a statement posted on social media. Two municipal police officers were also injured in the attack, according to media reports. The state authorities said they were deploying operations in the San Mateo Piñas municipality and the surrounding areas following the incident. "The cabinet has launched an operation to arrest those responsible for the attack," the Oaxaca government said in a statement. Euronews contacted the Oaxaca State Attorney General's Office for comment. The ambush is the second killing of a mayor in the state this year. In May, Mario Hernández García, the mayor of the Oaxaca municipality of Santiago Amoltepec, was killed alongside two other people who were with him at the time of the attack. García Soto's killing also follows deadly violence against public officials in Mexico's capital. Last month, Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada's personal secretary, Ximena Guzmán, and advisor, José Muñoz, were killed as they commuted in the city centre. It was the worst attack in recent years against public officials in the capital, who face a lower risk of political violence compared with their counterparts in other parts of the country. Last year's election cycle saw more than 30 candidates for municipal or state positions killed in Mexico. The country has one of the world's highest murder rates, chiefly owing to violence driven by drug cartels, according to a 2023 UN report on homicide. Since the start of the Israel-Iran conflict on Friday, Israel has killed several high-ranking members of the Iranian leadership. While 16 were confirmed dead, more than 20 senior officials of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other top commanders were among those targeted in Israel's attacks. Who are the top military officials killed so far? Euronews brings you the list. Chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces since 2016, Bagheri was killed in an Israeli missile strike on Thursday night, at the very onset of Israel's attack on Iran. He was one of the highest-ranking officers in the Iranian military, ranking second only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He coordinated Iran's armed forces—both the regular army and paramilitary units—and played a central role in shaping the regime's military doctrine. Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC, Salami was also close to the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. Salami was one of the hardest on Iran's rivals, notably Israel and the United States. A combatant in the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988) and an early member of the Revolutionary Guards, Salami served as the organisation's deputy for nine years before becoming its commander in 2019. Rashid was deputy commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the head of the IRGC's Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters, responsible for coordinating joint military operations. A veteran of the Iran-Iraq War, too, he welcomed the fact that Iran had regional allies opposed to Israel and the US, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon or the Houthis in Yemen. Hajizadeh was the commander of the IRGC's Aerospace Force. He led Iran's missile program and was responsible for the April 2024 missile attack on Israel. Head of intelligence for the Revolutionary Guards, Kazemi was killed in an Israeli strike on Sunday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu first announced his death that evening during an interview on US TV channel Fox News. Tehran confirmed the news a few hours later. Some other brigadier generals and senior officers were killed, including Mohsen Bagheri, Davood Shekhian, Mohammad Bagher Taherpour, Mansour Safarpour, Masoud Tayeb, Khosro Hassani, Mohammad Jafari and Javad Jarsara. In addition, sources have told domestic media in Israel that as many as 14 top nuclear scientists were also killed in Israel's targeted attacks since Friday. The former head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation was among the prominent scientists whose death has been confirmed. He also previously served as a member of the Iranian parliament. In 2010, he survived an assassination attempt that Iran attributed to Israel—an accusation Israel neither confirmed nor denied.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store