Iran defence minister and Revolutionary Guards commander killed, three sources say
Head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards ground forces Mohammed Pakpour. Photo: Reuters/ File
Iran's Defence Minister Amir Nasirzadeh and Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammed Pakpour are believed to have been killed in Israeli attacks, two sources familiar with Israel's military operations and one regional source said.
Iranian Defense Minister Amir Nasirzadeh and IRGC commander Mohammad Pakpour have been killed in Israeli attacks, Reuters reports, citing three sources familiar with the matter. pic.twitter.com/62ym4K6FZz
Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said that "we may have lost a few commanders, but that's not such a big problem," according to an NBC News reporter on X.
He accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former US president Donald Trump of waging an unjustified confrontation against Tehran, warning that Iran’s armed forces were ready to respond.
In a statement posted on social media platform X, Araghchi said: “Netanyahu and Trump's war on Iran is wholly unprovoked, illegal, and illegitimate.”
Netanyahu and Trump's war on Iran is wholly unprovoked, illegal, and illegitimate.
Trump has turned 'America First' into 'Israel First'—which always means 'America Last'.
Our Powerful Armed Forces are prepared for this day and will teach the aggressors the lesson they deserve pic.twitter.com/xhiWydMyXyHe further criticised Trump’s foreign policy stance, stating: “Trump has turned 'America First' into 'Israel First'—which always means 'America Last'.”
The minister also issued a warning regarding Tehran’s military preparedness. “Our Powerful Armed Forces are prepared for this day and will teach the aggressors the lesson they deserve,” he said.
The statement follows joint strikes by Israel and the United States earlier on Saturday that pushed the Middle East into renewed military confrontation and further dimmed hopes for a diplomatic solution to the West’s long-standing effort to denuclearise Iran, despite Tehran’s repeated assertions that it will not pursue nuclear weapons.
A source told Reuters that Iranian officials were the main target of the first wave of US-Israeli strikes.
Read: Iran targets US bases in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and UAE after American, Israeli strikes
An official told Reuters that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei is not in Tehran and has been transferred to a secure location, and the news agency Mehr is reporting that Iran's President is "safe". The New York Times, citing a US official, reported that US strikes on Iran were underway.
US strikes are being launched by air and sea, a US official tells Reuters. Speaking to CNN, a US official claims that the strikes are "only on military targets".
Previously, an Iranian official said that Tehran is preparing for retaliation, "The response will be crushing."
Following US and Israeli strikes, Iran responded by attacking US bases in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said that a first wave of retaliatory missile and drone attacks had been launched against Israel, warning that all US bases and interests in the region were within Iran’s reach, an Iranian official told Reuters.