Middle East. Israeli strikes on Iran: Who are the nine key figures killed during "Rising Lion"?
Israel carried out airstrikes on Friday against around 100 military and nuclear targets in Iran, which is suspected of pursuing nuclear weapons. At least three regime officials and six scientists from Iran's nuclear program were killed.
Generals Hossein Salami and Mohammed Bagheri, heads of Iranian security forces, were killed last night in the Israeli attack. Photo: Sipa/Zuma Press/Iranian Army
The Israeli attack on Iran on the night of Thursday to Friday caused significant damage to military and energy infrastructure , as well as several civilian casualties, including around fifty injured.
Some 200 IDF aircraft targeted approximately 100 targets . Among them were highly strategic figures: three senior army officials, including the chief of staff, and six scientists from Iran's nuclear program. Who are they?
Hossein Salami in 2023. Photo archives Sipa/Vahid Salemi/AP
Iran's heaviest casualty was General Hossein Salami , head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who died in a strike on Tehran. A close friend of the Supreme Leader, he was known for his diatribes against Israel and the West. "If you make the slightest mistake, we will open the gates of hell for you," he warned last month in the event of an attack by Israel or the United States.
Born in 1960 in central Iran, Hossein Salami fought in the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), during which he joined the Revolutionary Guards. He served as the Guards' second-in-command for nine years and was appointed their leader in 2019. He was a key player in the Iranian drone and missile attack launched in mid-April 2024 against Israeli territory.
What are the Revolutionary Guards for?
Created in 1979 shortly after the Islamic Revolution, the Guards have, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), around 125,000 members under the direct authority of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei . Unlike the national army, their primary role is not to protect Iranian territory but rather "the Revolution and its achievements," according to the Constitution.
General Gholam Ali Rashid. Screenshot X
General Gholam Ali Rashid , a senior commander of the Revolutionary Guards, was also among the victims of the Israeli attack. According to the Iranian news agency Tasnim , he had commanded the Khatam-al Anbiya central headquarters since 2016, a key structure of the Iranian armed forces, and had previously served as deputy chief of staff of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Gholam Ali Rashid was also known for his diatribes against Israel, claiming that Iran could attack Israeli military equipment and nuclear sites in the event of war, as reported on his Wikipedia page.
Mohammed Bagheri. Photo archives Sipa/Iranian army office
Another major loss for Iran: General Mohammed Bagheri , chief of staff of the Iranian National Army (a separate body from the Guards) since 2016, "was martyred," state television reported Friday. He joined the Guards in 1980, actively participating in the Iran-Iraq War, before rejoining the armed forces, reports the NGO United Against Nuclear Iran .
According to the NGO, he played a central role in the development of Iran's ballistic missile program and the conduct of external operations, notably in Syria and Iraq, and oversaw the delivery of drones to Russia during the war in Ukraine, which earned him international sanctions.
"Iran will find other people responsible"
The Israeli attack had a significant impact on the Iranian regime. "The entire security establishment has been wiped out. It's a very hard blow," Middle East specialist Christian Chesnot insisted this Friday morning on France Info . But Iran shouldn't be paralyzed. "The Iranian system is like an octopus. We have a regime with many people, so they'll find other people responsible," the journalist continued on air with our colleagues. "They were expecting an attack, they were on high alert."
At least six Iranian nuclear scientists were also killed Friday in the Israeli attack on Iran. " Abdolhamid Minouchehr, Ahmadreza Zolfaghari, Amirhossein Feqhi, Motalleblizadeh, Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, and Fereydoun Abbasi are the martyred nuclear scientists" in Israel's attack, the Tasnim news agency reported.
Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi was notably the president of the Islamic Azad University in Iran. He had previously headed the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI).
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