Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the chief of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force, was killed in an Israeli attack on an IRGC facility in Iran, IRGC confirmed in a public statement.
General Hajizadeh had led the Aerospace Force for 16 years and played a key role in Iran’s missile and drone programs.
Israel launched large-scale airstrikes on Iran early this morning, targeting Iranian nuclear facilities and senior military officials.
Among those confirmed killed in the attacks are General Hossein Salami, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; General Mohammad Bagheri, Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces; and Major General Gholam Ali Rashid, commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters, along with several other senior officers.
According to Iranian media, six nuclear scientists were martyred in the strikes on nuclear facilities.
Reports confirm the deaths of nuclear scientist Ahmad Reza Zolfaghari and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, head of Azad University and a prominent nuclear scientist.
Former director of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Fereydoun Abbasi, and Abdul Hamid Manouchehr were also among those killed, as reported by Iranian media.
Other scientists martyred in the attacks include Seyed Amirhossein Faqihi and Motallebi Zadeh.