Tehran [Iran], March 2 (HBTV): Iran’s Army Chief of Staff Abdul Rahim Mousavi and Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh were killed in Israeli-US strikes in Iran, Al Jazeera reported on Sunday, citing Iran’s state-run media Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
IRNA further reported that more commanders of the armed forces were also killed and that their names would be announced later.
Earlier, the Israeli Air Force said its jets carried out strikes on military targets in Iran, reportedly killing seven senior Iranian defence officials, including Ali Shamkhani and Mohammad Pakpour.
In a post on X, the Israeli Air Force stated, 'IAF fighter jets precisely struck military targets across Iran, eliminating 7 senior officials of the Iranian Defense Leadership: Ali Shamkhani, Mohammad Pakpour, Saleh Asadi, Mohammad Shirazi, Aziz Nasirzadeh, Hossein Jabal Amelian, Reza Mozaffari-Nia. The world is a better place without them.'
Israeli-US strikes into Iran also resulted in the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The strikes, labelled by the Israel Defense Forces as Operation Roaring Lion, followed months of joint planning with the US Armed Forces, IDF Lt Col Nadav Shoshani said in a video message on Sunday.
He added, 'Our mission could not be more clear. The IDF will continue to act to remove emerging threats against Israel because the price of inaction is too high.'
Iran is observing 40 days of public mourning following Khamenei’s death, Reuters reported, citing Iranian state media. The death occurred after strikes by the US and Israel under Operation Epic Fury/Operation Roaring Lion on Saturday.
In response to heightened tensions in the Gulf region, India initiated diplomatic outreach and expressed solidarity with regional and international leaders.
According to Al Jazeera, Iran launched coordinated attacks on US-linked targets across several Gulf Arab states in response to what Tehran described as a large-scale joint assault on its territory by the United States and Israel, raising concerns of a wider regional conflict.
Iranian authorities confirmed that strikes were carried out against multiple locations, the Fars News Agency reported. The reported targets included sites in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which host US military installations and airbases.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement that Israeli and US military facilities in the Middle East had been hit by 'powerful Iranian missile strikes,' warning that operations would continue.
'This operation will persist without interruption until the enemy is decisively defeated,' the IRGC said, adding that all US assets in the region are regarded as legitimate targets.
(ANI)