Israel launched a devastating series of strikes across Iran on Friday in what it called “Operation Rising Lion,” killing several of the country’s most senior military commanders and nuclear scientists in a dramatic escalation of their shadow war.
The precision attacks targeted nuclear facilities, military bases and private residences, with Iranian state media confirming the deaths of key figures including the chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces and the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
At the top of the casualty list was Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Iran’s highest-ranking military officer who oversaw both the IRGC and regular army. The 64-year-old veteran of the Iran-Iraq war had recently drawn criticism from hardliners for making conciliatory remarks about avoiding conflict during a speech at Persepolis. His replacement, General Abdolrahim Mousavi, comes from the regular army rather than the IRGC – a significant shift in Iran’s military leadership structure.
Equally consequential was the death of Major General Hossein Salami, the fiery-tongued IRGC commander who had repeatedly threatened to “open the gates of hell” against Israel. Salami’s hardline stance and powerful position made him one of Iran’s most feared military figures. His removal leaves a major vacuum in Iran’s security apparatus at a critical moment.
The strikes also claimed Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the controversial head of the IRGC’s aerospace force who oversaw Iran’s missile program. Hajizadeh was reportedly killed in an underground command center along with other senior IRGC air force commanders as they allegedly planned new attacks against Israel. The general had previously admitted responsibility for the accidental downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet in 2020 that killed 176 civilians – an admission that made him deeply unpopular among ordinary Iranians.
Perhaps most alarming for Iran’s nuclear ambitions was the killing of Dr. Fereydoon Abbasi, the former head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization. Abbasi had recently made headlines by openly discussing Iran’s capacity to build nuclear weapons if ordered to do so. His death, along with several other top nuclear scientists including professors from Tehran’s prestigious Shahid Beheshti University, represents a major blow to Iran’s nuclear program at a time when international monitoring has become increasingly difficult.
Israeli military sources claimed the operation successfully “decapitated” Iran’s military and nuclear command structure, with particular focus on those responsible for recent attacks against Israel. The strikes come after months of escalating tensions that saw Iran launch missile and drone attacks against Israel in April, which itself was retaliation for an earlier Israeli strike on an Iranian consulate in Syria.
Iranian officials have vowed severe retaliation, but the immediate response has been muted – possibly indicating the scale of disruption caused by the losses. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is expected to address the nation soon, with regional analysts warning that Iran may now activate its proxy networks across the Middle East to respond. The attack marks one of the most direct confrontations between the two arch-enemies in their decades-long conflict, with unpredictable consequences for regional stability.
The international community has reacted with alarm, with Russia and China condemning the strikes while Western nations remain cautiously silent.
The UN Security Council is expected to convene an emergency meeting in coming days as fears grow of an uncontrolled escalation. With Iran’s military leadership decimated and its nuclear program potentially set back years, the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East may have just undergone a seismic shift whose full consequences are only beginning to emerge.
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