Israel kills Revolutionary Guards chief Hossein Salami
Hossein Salami was appointed head of the Revolutionary Guards in 2019. (EPA Images pic)
DUBAI : Iran said several top commanders and six nuclear scientists were killed in Israeli strikes today targeting Iran's nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders to prevent Tehran from developing an atomic weapon.
At least 20 senior Iranian commanders, including the head of the Revolutionary Guards' aerospace force commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh, were killed in Israel's strikes on Iran today, two regional sources told Reuters.
Below is a list of the commanders and scientists killed:
Hossein Salami
Salami was commander-in-chief of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards Corps, or IRGC.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appointed Salami, who was born in 1960, as head of the IRGC in 2019.
Mohammad Bagheri
A former IRGC commander, major-general Bagheri was chief of staff of Iran's armed forces from 2016.
Born in 1960, Bagheri joined the Guards during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s.
Amir Ali Hajizadeh
Hajizadeh was the head of the Revolutionary Guards' aerospace force.
Israel has identified him as the central figure responsible for directing aerial attacks against its territory.
In 2020, Hajizadeh took responsibility for the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane, which occurred shortly after Iran launched missile strikes on US targets in Iraq in retaliation for the US drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani.
Gholamali Rashid
Major-general Rashid was head of the IRGC's Khatam al Anbia headquarters.
He previously served as deputy chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, and fought for Iran during the 1980s war with Iraq.
Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani
Abbasi, a nuclear scientist, served as head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization from 2011 to 2013.
A hardliner, Abbasi was a member of parliament from 2020 to 2024.
Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi
Tehranchi, a nuclear scientist, was head of Iran's Islamic Azad University in Tehran.
Four other scientists killed in today's strikes are Abdolhamid Manouchehr, Ahmad Reza Zolfaghari, Amirhossein Feghi and Motalibizadeh.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Malay Mail
an hour ago
- Malay Mail
Pentagon's late-night pizza orders serve up clues ahead of Israel's Iran strike
WASHINGTON, June 14 — The timing of Israel's plan to attack Iran was top secret. But Washington pizza delivery trackers guessed something was up before the first bombs fell. About an hour before Iranian state TV first reported loud explosions in Tehran, pizza orders around the Pentagon went through the roof, according to a viral X account claiming to offer 'hot intel' on 'late-night activity spikes' at the US military headquarters. 'As of 6.59pm ET nearly all pizza establishments nearby the Pentagon have experienced a HUGE surge in activity,' the account 'Pentagon Pizza Report' posted on Thursday. Not confining its analysis to pizza, the account noted three hours later that a gay bar near the Pentagon had 'abnormally low traffic for a Thursday night,' and said this probably pointed to 'a busy night at the Pentagon.' Both Dominos locations nearby the Pentagon continue to have abnormally high amounts of traffic for a Friday at around 7:08pm ET. The nearest gay bar to the Pentagon is also being reported as having VERY HIGH levels of activity. These are conflicting indicators! — Pentagon Pizza Report (@PenPizzaReport) June 13, 2025 While far from scientific, the Pentagon pizza theory 'is not something the internet just made up,' The Takeout, an online site covering restaurants and food trends, noted earlier this year. Pentagon-adjacent pizza joints also got much busier than usual during Israel's 2024 missile strike on Iran, it said, as there are 'a multitude of fast food restaurants in the Pentagon complex, but no pizza places.' Pizza deliveries to the Pentagon reportedly doubled right before the US invasion of Panama in December 1989, and surged again before Operation Desert Storm in 1991. President Donald Trump told The Wall Street Journal he was fully aware in advance of the bombing campaign, which Israel says is needed to end Iran's nuclear program. 'We know what's going on.' For the rest of Americans, pepperoni pie activity was not the only way to tell something was about to happen. Washington had already announced it was moving some diplomats and their families out of the Middle East on Wednesday. And close to an hour before Israel unleashed its firepower on Iran, the US ambassador in Jerusalem, Mike Huckabee, sent out a rather revealing X post: 'At our embassy in Jerusalem and closely monitoring the situation. We will remain here all night. 'Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!'' — AFP
Free Malaysia Today
an hour ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Iran says nuclear talks with US ‘meaningless' after Israel attack
Iranian women take to the streets of Tehran to protest against the US and the deadly Israeli airstrikes. (EPA Images pic) CAIRO : Iran said on Friday the dialogue with the US over Tehran's nuclear programme is 'meaningless' after Israel's biggest-ever military strike against its longstanding enemy, accusing Washington of supporting the attack. 'The other side (the US) acted in a way that makes dialogue meaningless. You cannot claim to negotiate and at the same time divide work by allowing the Zionist regime (Israel) to target Iran's territory,' the semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei as saying. He said Israel 'succeeded in influencing' the diplomatic process and the Israeli attack would not have happened without Washington's permission. Iran earlier accused the US of being complicit in Israel's attacks, but Washington denied the allegation and told Tehran at the UN security council that it would be 'wise' to negotiate over its nuclear programme. The sixth round of US-Iran nuclear talks was set to be held on Sunday in Muscat, but it was unclear whether it would go ahead after the Israeli strikes. Iran denies that its uranium enrichment programme is for anything other than civilian purposes, rejecting Israeli allegations that it is secretly developing nuclear weapons. US President Donald Trump told Reuters that he and his team had known the Israeli attacks were coming but they still saw room for an accord.
Free Malaysia Today
an hour ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Oil settles up 7% as Israel, Iran trade air strikes
Israeli strikes have so far spared Iranian energy infrastructure, including Kharg Island, which handles about 90% of Iran's crude exports. (Unsplash pic) HOUSTON : Oil prices jumped on Friday and settled 7% higher as Israel and Iran traded air strikes, feeding investor worries that the combat could widely disrupt oil exports from the Middle East. Brent crude futures settled at US$74.23 a barrel, up US$4.87, or 7.02%, after earlier soaring over 13% to an intraday high of US$78.50, the strongest level since Jan 27. Brent was 12.5% higher than a week ago. US West Texas Intermediate crude finished at US$72.98 a barrel, up US$4.94, or 7.62%. During the session, WTI jumped over 14% to its highest since Jan 21 at US$77.62. WTI climbed 13% to its level a week ago. Both benchmarks had their largest intraday moves since 2022 when Russia's invasion of Ukraine caused a spike in energy prices. Israel said it had targeted Iran's nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders on Friday at the start of what it warned would be a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon. Iran has promised a harsh response. Shortly after trading ended on Friday, Iranian missiles hit buildings in Tel Aviv, Israel, according to multiple media reports. Explosions were also heard in southern Israel. US President Donald Trump urged Iran to make a deal over its nuclear program to put an end to the 'next already planned attacks.' The National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company said oil refining and storage facilities had not been damaged and continued to operate. Iran, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), currently produces around 3.3 million barrels per day (bpd), and exports over 2 million bpd of oil and fuel. Spare capacity among Opec and its allies, including Russia, to pump more oil to offset any disruption is roughly equivalent to Iran's output, according to analysts and Opec watchers. The latest developments have also stoked concerns about disruptions to the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping passage. 'Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and Iran are wholly locked into one tiny passage for exports,' said Rabobank in a note, regarding the Strait. About a fifth of the world's total oil consumption passes through the strait, or some 18 to 19 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil, condensate and fuel. 'Israeli action has so far avoided Iranian energy infrastructure, including Kharg Island, the terminal responsible for an estimated 90% of Iran's crude oil exports,' said Ben Hoff, head of commodity research at Societe Generale. 'This raises the possibility that any further escalation could follow an 'energy-for-energy' logic where an attack on one side's oil infrastructure might invite a retaliatory strike on the other's,' Hoff said. Iran could pay a heavy price for blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, analysts said on Friday. 'Iran's economy heavily relies on the free passage of goods and vessels through the seaway, as its oil exports are entirely sea-based. Finally, cutting off the Strait of Hormuz would be counterproductive to Iran's relationship with its sole oil customer, China, said analysts with JP Morgan. Money managers raised their net long US crude futures and options positions in the week to June 10, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Friday. The speculator group raise its combined futures and options position in New York and London by 15,157 contracts to 121,911 during the period. Read full story Baker Hughes said the number of US oil and natural gas rigs fell for seventh week in a row with the total count down by 35 rigs or 6% below this time last year. The oil rig count fell by three to 439 this week, its lowest since October 2021, while gas rigs slipped by one to 113. In other markets, stocks dived and there was a rush to safe havens such as gold, the US dollar and Swiss franc.
