Israeli military says it eliminated more than 20 Iranian commanders
The Israeli military has killed more than 20 military commanders in attacks on Iran, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Saturday as the conflict between the two nations raged on.
Among those killed was the head of the intelligence department in the Iranian armed forces' general staff, Gholamreza Mehrabi, the IDF said. Iranian state radio had previously reported his death and described him as deputy head of the intelligence department.
Iran says almost 100 people were killed in the Israeli attacks. Most of the victims were civilians, according to Iran's UN ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani.
At least three people were killed by missiles fired from Iran in the densely populated Tel Aviv metropolitan area in Israel.
The IDF said Mehrabi was "responsible for intelligence situational assessments for the Iranian Armed Forces and was considered Iran's most senior intelligence officer."
"He was also a highly respected senior figure within the regime's security organization and a close associate of the Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, who was also eliminated in the opening strike," the IDF said.
Bagheri was commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Surface-To-Surface Missile Array, the IDF said, and "oversaw most of Iran's long-range surface-to-surface and cruise missile capabilities."
"He was eliminated alongside IRGC's Air Force Commander, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, and several other senior officials in an underground headquarters in Tehran," the IDF said.
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