Iran’s judiciary has confirmed the deaths of several senior officials in a series of US and Israeli airstrikes, escalating the crisis in the region.
General Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), and Ali Shamkhani, head of Iran’s National Defence Council, Khamenei’s adviser, were “martyred” in the attacks, the judiciary’s Mizan online news portal reported on Sunday.
State media further confirmed that members of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s family, including his daughter, son-in-law, and a grandchild, were also killed, according to Fars News Agency. The agency did not specify the exact locations or circumstances of their deaths.
Meanwhile, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader since 1989 and a staunch adversary of the West, was killed in the opening strikes of a large-scale US-Israeli offensive that carried into Sunday, as the two nations push to overthrow the Islamic republic.
US President Donald Trump claimed that Ayatollah Khamenei himself had been killed in the joint US-Israel operation, dubbed ‘Operation Epic Fury’.
He described Khamenei as one of history’s most notorious figures in a post on the social media platform Truth Social.
Israeli military sources cited by Reuters indicated that Amir Nasirzadeh, Iran’s Defence Minister, is also believed to have been killed during the attacks.
The targeted strikes, which have already claimed the lives of top military and security officials, have triggered a new wave of uncertainty in the region. Iranian state media and international outlets continue to monitor the fallout from the air raids.
