The IDF has announced the elimination of Iran’s entire senior leadership, claiming to have killed 40 of the country’s top officials within seconds of each other over the weekend.
Iran’s supreme leader of 36 years, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was among seven individuals eliminated simultaneously at several locations across Tehran in targeted strikes on Saturday morning.
He was killed in a bombing raid on his compound in Tehran in the opening wave of a coordinated US-Israeli campaign aimed at destroying Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes and toppling the Islamic regime.
Iranian state media confirmed Khamenei’s death early on Sunday, hours after Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and US President Trump were reported to have seen evidence of the successful assassination.
The CIA had tracked Khamenei’s location for months and knew he was to hold a meeting on Saturday morning with other key military commanders, according to The New York Times.
Iranian media reported that Khamenei’s daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter were also killed in the same attack.
But the IDF confirmed on Sunday that it had killed 40 “key” Iranian military commanders in strikes carried out within a minute of Khamenei’s death.
Among those killed is Major General Abdol Rahim Mousavi, chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces and formerly commander-in-chief of the Iranian Army. He assumed the role in June last year following the assassination of his predecessor, Mohammed Bagheri, by Israel during the Twelve-Day War.
Also eliminated during the opening salvo was Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who was appointed after the death of his predecessor, Hossein Salamai.
Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Khamenei and a top security official, was also killed in the strikes. He had previously been targeted by an Israeli air strike during the Twelve-Day War and was initially, and incorrectly, reported dead after that attack.
Aziz Nasirzadeh, Iran’s minister of defence, and Mohammad Shirazi, who served as the head of the military office of Khamenei and was described as a central figure in Iran’s military decision-making process, were also killed.
The last of the seven to have been killed on Saturday is Gholamreza Rezaian, Iran’s police intelligence chief.
The IDF announced on Sunday it had successfully taken out Iran’s entire senior leadership as well as the leaders of allied militant organisations.
It’s official: All senior terrorist leaders of Iran’s Axis of Terror have been eliminated pic.twitter.com/9T901u5ZsH
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 1, 2026
“It’s official: All senior terrorist leaders of Iran’s Axis of Terror have been eliminated,” said a spokesperson.
Trump confirmed that 48 Iranian leaders had been killed during the coordinated US-Israeli operation following the opening wave.
Other figures believed to have died include the heads of intelligence and weapons development, though this has not yet been confirmed by either military.
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