Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards chief Hossein Salami was killed in Israel’s ‘targeted military operation’, news agency AFP reported citing Iranian media reports.As the Commander-in-Chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hossein Salami was heading one of the most powerful military organisations in Iran.Born in 1960 in Golpayegan, Iran, Salami joined the IRGC shortly after the 1979 Iranian Revolution and quickly rose through the ranks, gaining prominence during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s.Known for his hardline views and strong loyalty to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Salami was a key figure in shaping Iran’s military strategy, particularly its regional influence and missile development programs.Prior to becoming the IRGC chief in April 2019, he served as the organisation’s deputy commander for over a decade.Salami was widely recognised for his aggressive rhetoric against Israel, the United States, and Gulf Arab states, often emphasising Iran’s military readiness and deterrence capabilities. Under his leadership, the IRGC expanded its missile arsenal and strengthened ties with proxy groups across the Middle East, playing a central role in Iran’s foreign policy and regional security agenda.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday said Israel launched a ‘targeted military operation’ against Iran, striking ‘at the heart’ of Tehran’s ballistic missile programme. The Israeli PM said the attack was to roll back the threat to Israel’s “very survival”. Netanyahu said Israel’s attack on Iran would “continue for as many days as it takes” after Israel announced it had carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear and military sites. “This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat,” Netanyahu said in a video statement, naming the operation “Rising Lion”, reported news agency AFP.
“We struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme. We targeted Iran’s main enrichment facility at Natanz… We also struck at the heart of Iran’s ballistic missile programme,” he said, adding that Israel had also hit Iranian nuclear scientists “working on the Iranian bomb,” he said. “This military operation aims to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival. This operation will continue for as many days as necessary to eliminate that threat. For decades, the tyrants in Tehran have openly and brazenly called for the destruction of Israel,” he said. Israeli PM claimed that Iran has produced “enough highly enriched uranium for nine atomic bombs” and that it could produce “a nuclear weapon in a very short time”.
