Iran's Revolutionary Guards Commander Hossein Salami killed

Iranian state media confirmed the killing of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Commander Maj.-Gen. Hossein Salami and Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Maj.-Gen. Mohammad Bagheri in the opening strike of Israel's Operation Rising Lion early Friday morning.

The IDF later confirmed the killing of IRGC air force commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh, along with other senior IRGC air force officials as they met in an underground command center on Friday.

According to The New York Times on Friday evening, Quds Force Commander Esmail Qaani had been killed in the strikes.

This included the commander of the IRGC’s UAV Force, Taher-pour, and IRGC aerial command chief, Davoud Shaykhian.

The IDF on Friday afternoon confirmed Defense Minister Israel Katz's earlier statement, noting that the Iran IRGC Air Force Chief, drone chief, and air defense chief were all killed by airstrikes.

More specifically, the IDF said that these officials had directed the massive Iranian attacks on Israel in both April 2024 and October 2024, as well as the Iranian attacks on Saudi Arabia in 2019.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander-in-Chief Major General Hossein Salami speaks during a parliament meeting in Tehran, Iran, January 22, 2023. (credit: Iranian Parliament website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS)

Also, the IDF noted such top Iranian officials committing themselves specifically to the destruction of Israel as well as helping plan how Iran and its proxies would try to bring this about.

Dozens of Israeli aircraft participated in an initial wave of strikes on dozens of military targets and Iranian nuclear sites.

"The response to the Israeli attack will be harsh and decisive," an Iranian official said, adding that details of Iran's retaliation "are being discussed at the highest levels" when asked whether the attack would be imminent.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that "Iran is gearing up to produce tens of thousands of ballistic missiles, which could kill millions of Israelis even without nuclear weapons, but imagine if any of them had nuclear weapons on them."

Further, Netanyahu stated Iran may only be a few months away from being able to actually make a nuclear weapon, and not just have enough uranium.

The IDF confirmed that the reason for the attack is to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon."Weapons of mass destruction in the hands of the Iranian regime are an existential threat to the State of Israel and to the wider world," the military said.

Operation Rising Lion: Israel kills IRGC chief, Hossein Salami, senior IRGC air force commanders

Dozens of Israeli aircraft participated in an initial wave of strikes on dozens of military targets and Iranian nuclear sites early on Friday morning.

Read more on Israel's strike on Iranian nuclear targets