The Latest: Iranians flee their capital as Trump urges unconditional surrender

Toronto Star

6 hours ago

Residents of Iran's capital were seen leaving the city as shops and the historic Grand Bazaar in Tehran were closed Tuesday, the fifth day of the intensifying conflict started by Israel.
President Donald Trump urged Iran to surrender unconditionally and said the U.S. knows where Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is hiding — but doesn't want him killed 'for now.'
Trump's post on social media came a day after he urged the immediate evacuation of Tehran, home to some 9.5 million people. Israel claimed Tuesday to have killed a top Iranian general as it traded more strikes with its longtime foe.
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Witnesses said strong explosions rocked buildings in western and eastern parts of Tehran on Tuesday evening. An Associated Press reporter could hear sounds of explosions and anti-aircraft batteries firing from all directions. On the roads out of Tehran to the west, traffic stood bumper to bumper, and long lines also could be seen at gas stations.
'It looks like no one is living in this city,' one resident told the AP by phone.
Here's the latest:
US to shut embassy in Jerusalem
The U.S. State Department announced Tuesday that the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem will be shut from Wednesday through Friday.
In a statement posted on its website, the department said that the closure is due to 'the current security situation and ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran.'
The closure includes the Consular Sections in both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. It also means there will be no passport services available.
The embassy also instructed all U.S. government employees and their family to continue to shelter in place.
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More sirens in Israel
A new round of sirens has gone off in parts of Israel. There are no immediate reports of casualties. Israel's fire and rescue service notes reports of several fires in open areas.
Dow drops nearly 300 after oil prices jump as Trump urges Iran's unconditional surrender
U.S. stocks are slumping under the weight of a jump for the price of oil.
The S&P 500 fell 0.8% Tuesday following signals that Israel's conflict with Iran may be worsening and that one of the U.S. economy's main engines is weakening. That nearly erased the S&P 500's gain for the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 297 points, or 0.7%, as of 3:15 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.8% lower.
How Israel used spies, smuggled drones and AI to stun and hobble Iran
Israel stunned Iran last week with an intelligence and military operation years in the making that struck high-level targets with precision.
Guided by spies and artificial intelligence, the Israeli military unleashed a nighttime fusillade of warplanes and armed drones smuggled into Iran to incapacitate many of its air defenses and missile systems.
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With greater freedom to fly over Iran, Israel bombarded key nuclear sites and killed top generals and scientists. By the time Iran mustered a response hours later, its ability to retaliate — already weakened by past Israeli strikes — was greatly diminished.
This account is based on conversations with 10 current and former Israeli intelligence and military officials, some of whom spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss clandestine operations.
▶ Read more about Israel's surprise attack on Iran
A task force will help Americans who want to leave the Middle East
The State Department has created a special task force to assist Americans seeking to leave Israel and other Mideast countries amid the conflict with Iran, although no government evacuations are currently planned.
The task force, run by the Bureau of Consular Affairs, is operating 24 hours to provide information to U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents wanting to return to the United States.
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce wouldn't tell reporters Tuesday how many people had sought advice from the task force.
There are some 700,000 Americans, many of them dual U.S.-Israeli citizens, now in Israel and thousands more in other Mideast countries, including Iran.
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Iran's military leaders vow Israel will soon see more attacks
'The operations carried out so far have been solely for the purpose of warning and deterrence,' Gen. Abdul Rahim Mousavi, the commander in chief of Iran's army, said in a video. 'The punishment operation will be carried out soon.'
Another round of Israeli strikes in Iran
As Israel's military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, announced a new wave of strikes on Iran at 8:45 p.m. local time, a series of explosions and anti-aircraft fire boomed throughout Tehran, shaking buildings across the capital.
The Israeli military said its warplanes had targeted 12 missile launch sites and storage facilities in the country.
British warplanes are arriving in the Middle East
U.K. Defense Secretary John Healy said that the additional fighter aircraft the U.K. announced it was sending to the Middle East have begun arriving.
Healey told a defense conference in London that he is ensuring 'force protection is now at its highest level' and said the move is to 'protect our personnel, it's to reassure our partners, and it's to reinforce the urgent need for de-escalation.'
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced at the weekend that the U.K would be deploying more military aircraft including Typhoons and air-to-air refuelers to the Middle East.
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Iran is likely clamping down on internet traffic, group says
NetBlocks, a group that tracks internet disruptions by nations, said it detected a reduction of internet access in Iran.
'Analysis of telemetry shows a significant reduction in internet traffic in Iran,' it said. 'The incident comes amid an escalating conflict with Israel and is likely to limit the public's ability to access information at a critical time.'
Trump says US knows where Iran's Khamenei is hiding, urges Iran's unconditional surrender
Trump says the U.S. knows where Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is hiding but doesn't want him killed 'for now.'
He urged, in a social media posting on Tuesday, Iran's 'UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER' as the five-day Israel-Iran conflict escalates.
Iran tells people to delete WhatsApp over fears it's sending data to Israel
Iranian state television on Tuesday afternoon urged the public to remove the messaging app WhatsApp from their smart phones, alleging without offering any evidence the app gathered user information to send to Israel.
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In a statement, WhatsApp said it was 'concerned these false reports will be an excuse for our services to be blocked at a time when people need them the most.' WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption, meaning a service provider in the middle can't read a message.
'We do not track your precise location, we don't keep logs of who everyone is messaging and we do not track the personal messages people are sending one another, it added. 'We do not provide bulk information to any government.'
WhatsApp is owned by Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Istagram.
JD Vance addresses MAGA divide on Israel-Iran as Trump weighs next steps
Prominent Trump supporters, including Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and conservative pundit Tucker Carlson have raised concerns about how far the president should go in backing Israel after vowing during his campaign to keep the U.S. out of expensive and endless wars.
The vice president in a posting on X on Tuesday said he wanted to address 'a lot of crazy stuff on social media' about Trump's approach to Iran.
Vance made the case that Trump has been consistent that 'Iran cannot have uranium enrichment' and has said 'repeatedly that this would happen one of two ways—the easy way or the 'other' way.'
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'He may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment. That decision ultimately belongs to the president,' Vance added. 'And of course, people are right to be worried about foreign entanglement after the last 25 years of idiotic foreign policy. But I believe the president has earned some trust on this issue.'
China's Xi expresses 'deep concerns' over the escalating Israel-Iran tensions
According to the Chinese foreign ministry statement on Tuesday, President Xi Jinping expressed opposition to 'any acts that infringe on the sovereignty, security, territorial integrity of other countries.'
Xi called for efforts to de-escalate conflicts and offered help from the Chinese government to restore peace and stability in the region. Xi made the remarks while attending the second China-Central Asia Summit in Kazakhstan.
Tehran empties as Israeli strikes hit homes and offices. One resident describes chaos
The streets of the Iranian capital are nearly deserted, police are using loudspeakers to tell people to stay indoors, and emergency travel is the only exception, according to one resident, an Afghan store worker.
'It looks like no one is living in this city,' he said. On the conflict's second day, he saw an Israeli missile strike a government building, sending glass, office furniture, documents and other debris into the road below. A second strike minutes later set the building ablaze.
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In the past day, he said a missile hit a residential tower, injuring women and children. Rescue teams pulled victims from the rubble.
'Many civilians were killed and injured in the first two days,' he said, adding that most residents have now fled. Messaging apps remain unreliable. He spoke to The Associated Press over the phone, declining to give his name for fear of reprisals.
German leader doesn't think US has decided whether to directly enter Israel-Iran conflict
'There is apparently no decision yet by the American government; it very much depends on how far the mullah regime is prepared to return to the negotiating table,' said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, using a dismissive term for the Islamic Republic.
Merz added: 'If not, there could be such a further development. But we will have to wait and see.'
Speaking to Germany's Welt television on the sidelines of the G7 summit Tuesday, he said he believes the Israeli attacks in recent days have very much weakened the Iranian government.
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He also told ARD television that there's still room for Iran's leaders 'to come back to the negotiating table and hold talks.' But if Iran doesn't, he said 'Israel will pursue its path to the end.'
UK's Starmer says Trump won't drag US into Israel-Iran conflict
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he is confident Donald Trump is not about to take the U.S. into the Israel-Iran conflict, despite the president's early departure from a G7 summit to deal with the escalating crisis.
Starmer told reporters at the summit on Tuesday that 'I don't think anything that the president said either here or elsewhere suggests that' the U.S. will get involved. That comes after Trump on social media urged the 9.5 million residents of Tehran to leave.
He said that when Trump denied seeking a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, 'I think what he said was he wanted to go beyond a ceasefire effectively and end the conflict. And I think he's right about that.'
UN opens, then immediately closes a summit on Israeli-Palestinian peace plan
The widening Israel-Iran conflict has added a new casualty: the high-level U.N. summit to promote a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, which is now postponed indefinitely.
Co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France, the U.N. General Assembly meeting was set to run from Tuesday through Friday.
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Saudi Arabia's U.N. Ambassador Abdulaziz Alwasil, citing 'logistical and security reasons,' said conditions were not right to hold the conference.
France's U.N. Ambassador Jerome Bonnafont affirmed support for the talks, saying France remains committed to ending the war in Gaza and 'a just and lasting solution for the Palestinian cause.'
The postponement was supported by the conference participants. The General Assembly mandated the summit be held by June, following a resolution late last year.
Iran appears to be limiting people's phone and internet access
Iran appeared to be slowly restricting access for the public to the outside world on Tuesday night as landline telephones appeared to be no longer able to receive or dial international phone calls.
Iran offered no acknowledgment of the restriction, which has happened during nationwide protests in the past and during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war.
International websites as well appeared to be restricted for internet users. However, local websites appeared to be functioning. That likely signals Iran has turned on its so-called 'halal net,' Iran's own locally controlled version of the internet aimed at restricting what the public can see.
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Israel is striking Tehran and another city in the country's center
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported Israeli airstrikes around the city of Isfahan on Tuesday afternoon, with air defense also firing. It did not elaborate on the targets.
A series of explosions and anti-aircraft fire also boomed throughout Tehran just before 6:30 p.m.
Iran announces limited ban on smartphones and laptops, fearing Israel's digital tracking
Iran has banned government officials and their bodyguards from using all communication devices linked to the networks. The ban, announced Tuesday, includes mobile phones, smart watches and laptops.
Iran did not elaborate on the reason for the ban, which was reported by the semiofficial Fars news agency. However, it suggests Iran suspects Israel used digital signatures from electronics to launch its strikes, which have decimated Iran's military leadership.
Life is 'dire' in Tehran, laments an Afghan shopkeeper stuck in the Iranian capital
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Sirens blare every few hours in Tehran and people rush for shelter amid ongoing Israeli attacks, says an Afghan shopkeeper in Tehran. Life has never been so 'dire' here, he says.
The man, originally from Kabul, has lived in the Iranian capital for the past four years. Now he says he has no means of getting out of the city and is stuck in the apartment he rents. He spoke to The Associated Press over the phone, declining to give his name for fear of reprisals from authorities who maintain that it's business as normal.
But markets, stores and commercial areas are closed — and food is becoming scare, he says. 'For two days now, food has been hard to find, especially bread.'
'The police don't even allow us to go outside or leave the city. Everyone is forbidden from taking photos or videos,' he said. 'I am in a war zone.'
The UN watchdog now says Israeli strikes had 'direct impacts' on Iran's Natanz enrichment site
The International Atomic Energy Agency says it now believes Israeli airstrikes on Iran's Natanz enrichment site had 'direct impacts' on the facility's underground centrifuge halls. It did not elaborate.
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It's the first time the U.N. nuclear watchdog has assessed damage from the strikes in the underground parts of Natanz, which is the main enrichment facility of Iran's program.
Earlier, it was clear that Natanz's above-ground enrichment hall had been destroyed, as well as electrical equipment that powered the facility.
Iran has not discussed the damage done in depth at Natanz as the country is reeling from the ongoing Israeli strikes that are dismantling its air defense and killing its top military commanders.
After being stranded in Saudi Arabia, Iranian pilgrims take the long land route home
Dozens of Iranian pilgrims were in Saudi Arabia for the annual Hajj pilgrimage when they got stranded by the ongoing Israeli-Iranian conflict that has left much of the Mideast's airspace closed and reduced traffic at dozens of airports.
Since they couldn't take the flight back to Iran, some 100 pilgrims travelled first by bus to neighboring Iraq, where they are now waiting in the southern city of Karbala to cross the border to Iran.
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'This war came in and it was not in our hands' said Aziz Mohammed Khan, one of the Iranian pilgrims. 'They told us that we will stay and take a rest here for about two hours, then after the two hours we will be sent back to Mehran border crossing in Iran.'
The pilgrims sat at a waiting hall where the buses were parked. Some sat on the benches, while others sat on the ground in the shade to avoid the sweltering summer heat.
Iran's Nobel Peace Prize laureate on leave from prison in Tehran indicates she's left the city
Narges Mohammadi, who has been on an extended leave from Evin Prison in the Iranian capital, has signaled she's fled Tehran amid the Israeli strikes.
Mohammadi wrote on X: 'I left home.' She said she hoped to return one day.
'I know millions of our fellow citizens are leaving their homes to escape war — fleeing death, fear, and destruction —and because there is no shelter left in their cities, they seek refuge in others,' she wrote. 'Let's be each other's refuge.'
She did not say where she was or where she was going.
Mohammadi, who has kept up her activism despite numerous arrests and spending years behind bars, had been serving 13 years and nine months on charges of collusion against state security and propaganda against Iran's government.
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Kremlin says all Russians in Tehran who want to leave will be evacuated
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov says the Russian embassy in Tehran is working 'around the clock' to make sure all Russian nationals could evacuate from Iran though a checkpoint on the border with Azerbaijan.
He said Moscow was 'very grateful' to Azerbaijan for assistance on the border. 'This work continues around the clock.'
Peskov deplored that the situation in the Middle East was 'still on the path of further escalation, galloping escalation.'
Asked if there's been any response to Moscow's proposal to mediate the conflict, Peskov said: 'At the moment, we see a reluctance, at least on the part of Israel, to turn to any kind of mediation services.'
As Tehran empties out, a cyberattack targets one of its banks
Bank Sepah, the first bank established in Iran, saw its online services disrupted in an apparent cyberattack. The semiofficial Fars news agency said that will likely cause a disruption at some gasoline stations.
The hackers identified themselves as 'Gonjeshke Darande,' or 'Predatory Sparrow.' The group has claimed hacking a major steel mill in 2022 and disrupting gas stations in 2023.
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Iran, long sanctioned by the West, has difficulties in getting up-to-date hardware and software, often relying on Chinese-manufactured electronics or older systems no longer being patched by manufacturers. Pirated versions of Windows and other software are common across Iran.
Jordan's king says violence in Iran, Israel and Gaza is a 'threat to people everywhere'
King Abdullah II condemned Israel's offensive on Iran in a speech to European Union parliamentarians on Tuesday in Strasbourg, France.
'There is no telling where the boundaries of this battleground will end,' he said. 'And that, my friends, is a threat to people everywhere.'
Often interrupted by applause, the king said that 'consequences ripple across borders.'
'When our global community fails to bridge the gap between principle and action, when values are not practiced, they become performative, abstract and expendable,' he said. 'We are at another defining crossroad in our history, one that demands a choice, power or principle the rule of law or the rule of force, decline or renewal.'
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More explosions in Tehran as group reports mounting death toll
The sound of two explosions rang out across Tehran early on Tuesday afternoon. Black smoke rose from the northern part of the city, near Iranian state television headquarters and other government offices. There was no immediate acknowledgement from authorities of the attack.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Activists, a Washington-based group that monitors Iran, said it had counted at least 452 deaths and 646 people injured in Iran since the Israeli campaign started last Friday.
The group crosschecks local reports in Iran against a network of sources it has developed in the country.
US joining conflict would lead to 'broader conflict,' EU foreign policy chief
The European Union's top diplomat said on Tuesday that the United States joining the conflict between Israel and Iran would 'drag the region into a broader conflict.'
Kaja Kallas added that during a recent call with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, he had 'emphasized that it's also not in their interest to be drawn into this conflict.'
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Kallas said the foreign ministers of the 27-nation bloc, in a video conference meeting, agreed on a peaceful political resolution of the conflict in Gaza and between Israel and Iran .
'Ministers called on all sides to abide by international law, exercise restraint and avoid actions that could spiral out of control.'
She said that 'all agreed the urgent need for de-escalation' and that 'Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and diplomacy is the solution to prevent this.'
Russian drone production not affected by conflict
Russia makes the drones it uses in its war in Ukraine and is unlikely to be impacted immediately by the conflict in the Middle East, said David Albright, an expert on Russian and Iranian drones.
The drones are made predominantly in the Alabuga plant in Russia's Tatarstan region and while Moscow initially bought a limited number of drones from Tehran, it later opened its own production facilities.
Iran has 'decades of experience' building drones, Albright said, and Russia could suffer because it will not be able to get more 'advanced drone models' from Iran, which is likely to need them.
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Trump rejects intelligence assessment on Iran nukes
The Republican president insisted that Tehran was 'very close' to building a nuclear weapon despite congressional testimony from his top intelligence adviser earlier this year.
Back in March, National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard told lawmakers that spy agencies have assessed that 'Iran is not building a nuclear weapon' and the country's supreme leader 'has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003.'
Trump dismissed that when speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One during an overnight flight back to Washington after leaving the G7 summit early.
'I don't care what she said,' Trump said. 'I think they were very close to having it.'
Trump not 'in the mood to negotiate'
'Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, it's very simple,' Trump told reporters on Air Force One during his overnight flight back to Washington.
He accused Iranian leaders of being unwilling to reach an agreement over their nuclear program, and suggested he was now less interested in talking with them.
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'They should have done the deal. I told them, do the deal,' Trump said. 'So I don't know. I'm not too much in the mood to negotiate.'
The Republican president, who said he plans to meet with advisers in the Situation Room, appears to be gradually building the public case for a more direct American role in the conflict.
His shift in tone comes as the U.S. has repositioned warships and military aircraft in the region to respond if the conflict between Israel and Iran further escalates.
Iran cancels leave for medical personnel
In Tehran on Tuesday, placards and boards calling for a 'severe' response to Israel could be seen everywhere.
Authorities cancelled leave and vacations for doctors and nurses as the attacks continue.
Long lines could be seen at gas stations.
European leaders push for de-escalation
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday night and then in the ensuing hours with the Iranian, British and German foreign ministers about the situation in the Mideast.
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The French, British and German ministers passed on joint messages to the Iranian foreign minister about the need for a de-escalation and a return to diplomacy, according to a French diplomatic official.
They urged Iran to return to negotiations as soon as possible, without conditions, the official said.
They urged Iran to avoid any threats to Western interests, any extension of hostilities elsewhere in the region and any nuclear escalation including leaving the Non-Proliferation Treaty, stopping cooperation with the IAEA or pursuing further enrichment, the official said.
The ministers also passed along messages to Israel on the need to not target Iranian authorities, infrastructure and the civilian population, the official said.
The official was not authorized to be publicly named in accordance with Foreign Ministry policy.
Italy's Meloni reiterates negotiations with Iran
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni reaffirmed 'the opportunity to reopen the road of negotiations' with Iran during a bilateral meeting with President Trump on the sidelines of the G-7 meeting in Canada, her office said in a statement Tuesday.
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She also underlined 'the necessity in this moment' of reaching a ceasefire in Gaza.
More than 40 Palestinians killed while waiting for aid in Gaza
At least 45 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip while waiting for U.N. and commercial trucks to enter the territory with desperately needed food, according to Gaza's Health Ministry and a local hospital.
The circumstances of the killings were not immediately clear.
Palestinians say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire on crowds trying to reach food distribution points run by a separate U.S. and Israeli-backed aid group since the centers opened last month.
Local health officials say scores have been killed and hundreds wounded.
In those instances, the Israeli military has acknowledged firing warning shots at people it said had approached its forces in a suspicious manner.
Egypt, Jordan and others call for a halt to the conflict
Twenty countries denounced in a joint statement the escalating tensions in the Middle East caused by what they term Israel's aggression against Iran and called for diplomacy and dialogue to restore stability in the region.
'There's an imperative need to halt Israeli hostilities against Iran, which come during a time of increasing tension in the Middle East, and to work towards de-escalation, to achieve a comprehensive ceasefire and restoration of calm,' read the statement.
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Foreign ministers of Algeria, Bahrain, Brunei, Chad, the Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, and Mauritania rejected finding resolution through military campaigns. Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Somalia, Sudan, Turkey, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates also condemned the escalation.
They also highlighted the importance of clearing the region of nuclear and mass destruction weapons and called for refraining from targeting nuclear facilities and protecting maritime navigation in international waters.
India evacuates its citizens
India has evacuated an unspecified number of students from Tehran amid rising tension in the region, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Some Indian nationals have also received assistance to leave Iran through the borders with Armenia, it added.
Those who can afford transport on their own have been advised to evacuate as soon as possible.
Israel says it killed high-ranking Iranian general
Israel claimed Tuesday it killed another high-ranking Iranian general after decimating its military command.
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The Israeli military said it killed Gen. Ali Shadmani, who had just been named as the head of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters.
Iran did not immediately acknowledge Shadmani's death.
Shadmani was a general in Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.