Israel attacks Iran: Who are the top Iranian generals eliminated by Israel

Time of India

18 hours ago

In this operation, three top Iranian leaders were killed. The three were
Hossein Salami
, head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards;
Mohammad Bagheri
, Chief of Staff of Iran's armed forces; and
Ali Shamkhani
, former national security chief and senior advisor.
The three musketeers
Major General Hossein Salami born in 1960, was the leader of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and later in 2019 he became the head of the IRGC. He reported directly to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The IRGC is Iran's most powerful military group. Salami led the IRGC when Iran fired hundreds of drones and missiles at
Israel
in April and October 2023, as per reports.
In Jan 2024, Iranian media showed Salami at an underground missile site linked to those attacks. At that base, he walked over U.S. and Israel flags and viewed 'new special missiles.' He was also the head when the IRGC accidentally shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane in 2020. That crash killed all 176 people on board. CNN analyst Beth Sanner said killing Salami is like killing the U.S. Chairman of Joint Chiefs, a very big deal.
Since 2016, Major General Mohammad Bagheri has been the Chief of Staff of Iran's Armed Forces. His office, the General Staff, runs and coordinates all military activities. In 2019, the U.S. punished him with sanctions for supporting terrorism and hurting the rights of Iranian people, as stated by CNN report.
In April, Bagheri had a meeting in Tehran with Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman. In that meeting, the Saudi prince warned Bagheri to accept Trump's nuclear deal offer to avoid war with Israel, according to the report by Reuters.
Live Events
Ali Shamkhani was a trusted advisor to Khamenei, who is Iran's Supreme Leader. He helped Iran and Saudi Arabia become friends again after years of problems. His death was confirmed by Iran's IRINN TV network after Israel's strike. Shamkhani was Iran's top national security chief from 2013 to mid-2023. Before that, he worked in the IRGC and Iran's defense ministry, according to the report by CNN.
He was well-known internationally, especially in U.S. and European foreign policy circles. In 2023, he led China-brokered talks with Saudi Arabia which ended years of hostility. But he was suddenly replaced later that year. Analysts say Shamkhani was very ambitious, he even ran for President in 2001. Some experts believed Khamenei thought he was getting too powerful, as per reports.
Still, he stayed close to the Supreme Leader and gave advice during Trump-era nuclear talks. In April before U.S. talks, he warned that Iran might expel UN nuclear inspectors if threatened.
FAQs
Q1. Who did Israel kill in the Iran strike?
Israel killed Hossein Salami, Mohammad Bagheri, and Ali Shamkhani.
Q2. Why is this attack important?
These leaders helped run Iran's army and nuclear plans, so their deaths could weaken Iran's response.