Iranian state television confirmed that General Mohammad Bagheri, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, was killed in an Israeli airstrike.
“Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, has been killed,” Iranian state television reported on June 13.
Iranian media initially denied the Israeli report, saying that General Bagheri was still alive and in the command center. However, they later confirmed that the official had died.
Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri in the capital Tehran on April 13.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a preemptive airstrike campaign on the morning of June 13 against Iran’s nuclear and military facilities, causing a series of large explosions in the capital Tehran and the city of Natanz in Isfahan province. Israel announced that Iran would have enough enriched uranium to build several nuclear bombs in the coming days, affirming that the IDF “needs to act against this imminent threat”.
Mr. Bagheri was born in Tehran, but there are conflicting reports about his birth year. Some sources, including the U.S. Treasury Department, say he was born in 1960, while others say he was born in 1958.
A military intelligence expert, Mr. Bagheri joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in 1980 and fought in the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s. In June 2016, he became Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the highest position in the Iranian military.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said the attack killed a number of Iranian commanders and scientists, including IRGC commander General Hossein Salami. Khamenei warned that Israel would face severe sanctions.
