Mohammad Bagheri, Iran's armed forces chief of staff, killed in 'targeted strikes’, claims Israel

Israel says it killed Mohammad Bagheri, Iran's armed forces chief of staff, along with senior nuclear scientists in ‘targeted strikes,' reported AFP.

"It is likely that the Iranian chief of staff and senior nuclear scientists were eliminated in the initial strike," the report said, citing an official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards Commander-in-Chief Hossein Salami was killed in the large-scale strikes on Friday.

Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) stated that Major General Hossein Salami, Chief Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), was “assassinated in an Israeli strike in Tehran."

Senior IRGC commander Gholamali Rashid, along with at least two nuclear officials, Fereydoun Abbasi and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, were also killed in the attacks.

Israel targets Iran

In a post on the social media platform X, Prime Minister of Isreal Benjamin Netanyahu posted, “Moments ago, Israel launched Operation “Rising Lion”, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival.”

He further warned ,"this operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat."

In a video message on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel struck at “heart of Iran's nuclear enrichment programme” . He further warned Israel's operation against Iran to “continue as many days as it takes."

"We are at a decisive moment in Israel's history," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. Iranian scientists working on a nuclear bomb, ballistic missile programme and Natanz uranium enrichment facility were also targeted, he added.

Reportedly, Israeli strikes on residential buildings in the Iranian capital resulted in the deaths of several civilians, including children, according to Iranian state media.

"A number of people including women and children were martyred in a residential complex in Tehran," the official IRNA news agency reported.