Latest news with #MohammadKazemi
India.com
7 hours ago
- Politics
- India.com
Iran-Israel Conflict Escalates: Ballistic Missile Strikes Leave 17 Injured In Haifa
New Delhi: Seventeen people were reported injured in the ballistic missile strikes by Iran in Haifa, The Times of Israel quoted medics as stating. Magen David Adom, Israel's national emergency medical, disaster, ambulance, and blood bank service, said it treated a total of 17 people, including a man in his 40s and a 16-year-old boy in serious condition, who were hit by shrapnel, and a 54-year-old in moderate condition. Another 14 were lightly hurt, MDA said. They were taken to a hospital, as per The Times of Israel. Some 25 ballistic missiles are estimated by the IDF to have been launched from Iran at Israel in the latest attack, The Times of Israel added. One missile impact in Haifa wounded several people, including a teenager in serious condition, medics say. Other impacts were reported in southern and central Israel. Meanwhile, the IDF said, "IAF (Israeli Air Force) fighter jets struck the Iranian Regime's Internal Security HQ and the HQ of the regime's special internal security units in Tehran earlier this week." The IDF further said that they continue to maintain aerial superiority in Iranian airspace. In a post on X, the IDF said, "The IAF (Israeli Air Force) continues its mission to maintain aerial superiority in Iranian airspace. Fighter jets struck several Iranian missile systems and radar installations in the areas of Isfahan and Tehran, which were intended to target IDF aircraft and disrupt their operations. This strike expands the freedom of aerial operation in Iranian airspace, following the breakthrough to Tehran. Fighter jets and other aircraft of the Israeli Air Force continue to operate freely in Iranian skies, striking military targets of the Iranian regime in western and central Iran." Iranian state media officially confirmed that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' intelligence chief, Brigadier General Mohammad Kazemi, and his deputy, Hassan Mohaqiq, were killed in an Israeli strike, The Times of Israel reported. The Times of Israel, while quoting state media, also said on Monday that a third IRGC intelligence officer, Mohsen Bagheri, was also killed in the strike in Tehran. Meanwhile, Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, was evacuated to an underground bunker in northeastern Tehran hours after Israel began its strikes on Friday.
News18
21 hours ago
- Politics
- News18
Majid Khademi Named Head Of Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Intelligence Unit: Reports
Last Updated: Majid Khademi has been appointed as the new head of the IRGC's Intelligence Organisation after Mohammad Kazemi was killed in an Israeli strike. Majid Khademi has reportedly been named the new head of the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The development comes after the death of Mohammad Kazemi in an Israeli strike in Iran, amid the ongoing Middle East tensions. According to the Tehran Times, the appointment of Brigadier General Majid Khademi was made by Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC, Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour, according to the report. Khademi previously served as the head of the IRGC's Protection and Intelligence Organisation, the report claimed. On Thursday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, after Iranian missiles crashed into a major hospital in southern Israel and hit residential buildings near Tel Aviv, wounding at least 240 people. As rescuers wheeled patients out of the smouldering hospital, Israeli warplanes launched their latest attack on Iran's nuclear programme. Katz blamed Khamenei for Thursday's barrage and said the military 'has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist." In Washington, the White House announced that US President Donald Trump will decide within two weeks whether to join Israel's campaign against Iran's military and nuclear programme, signalling that Trump still sees a window for diplomacy to address Israeli and US concerns about Iran's nuclear programme. The open conflict between Israel and Iran erupted on June 13 with a surprise wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting nuclear and military sites, top generals and nuclear scientists. At least 639 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran, and more than 1,300 injured, according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group. At least 240 people were injured by the latest Iranian attack on Israel, including 80 patients and medical workers wounded in the strike on the Soroka Medical Centre. The vast majority were lightly injured, as much of the hospital building had been evacuated in recent days. Israel's Home Front Command said that one of the Iranian ballistic missiles fired Thursday morning had been rigged with fragmenting cluster munitions. Rather than a conventional warhead, a cluster munition warhead carries dozens of submunitions that can explode on impact, showering small bomblets around a large area and posing major safety risks on the ground, according to Reuters. First Published: June 20, 2025, 06:52 IST
Japan Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Japan Times
Iran supreme leader sees his inner circle hollowed out by Israel
Iran's 86-year-old supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, cuts an increasingly lonely figure. Khamenei has seen his main military and security advisers killed by Israeli air strikes, leaving major holes in his inner circle and raising the risk of strategic errors, according to five people familiar with his decision-making process. One of those sources, who regularly attends meetings with Khamenei, described the risk of miscalculation to Iran on issues of defense and internal stability as "extremely dangerous." Several senior military commanders have been killed since Friday including Khamenei's main advisers from the Revolutionary Guard, Iran's elite military force: the Guard's overall commander, Hossein Salami, its aerospace chief, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who headed Iran's ballistic missile program, and spymaster Mohammad Kazemi. These men were part of the supreme leader's inner circle of roughly 15-20 advisers comprising Guard commanders, clerics, and politicians, according to the sources who include three people who attend or have attended meetings with the leader on major issues and two close to officials who regularly attend. The loose group meets on an ad-hoc basis, when Khamenei's office reaches out to relevant advisers to gather at his compound in Tehran to discuss an important decision, all the people said. Members are characterized by unwavering loyalty to him and the ideology of the Islamic Republic, they added. Khamenei, who was imprisoned before the 1979 revolution and maimed by a bomb attack before becoming leader in 1989, is profoundly committed to maintaining Iran's Islamic system of government and deeply mistrustful of the West. Under Iran's system of government he has supreme command of the armed forces, the power to declare war, and can appoint or dismiss senior figures including military commanders and judges. Khamenei makes the final decision on important matters, though he values advice, listens attentively to diverse viewpoints, and often seeks additional information from his counselors, according to one source who attends meetings. "Two things you can say about Khamenei: he is extremely stubborn but also extremely cautious. He is very cautious. That is why he has been in power for as long as he has," said Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute think tank in Washington. "Khamenei is pretty well placed to do the basic cost-benefit analysis which really fundamentally gets to one issue more important than anything else: regime survival." The focus on survival has repeatedly been put to the test. Khamenei has deployed the Revolutionary Guard and its affiliated Basij militia to quell national protests in 1999, 2009 and 2022. While the security forces have always been able to outlast demonstrators and restore state rule, years of Western sanctions have caused widespread economic misery that analysts say could ultimately threaten internal unrest. The stakes could barely be higher for Khamenei who faces an escalating war with Israel, which has targeted nuclear and military sites and personnel with air attacks, drawing retaliatory Iranian missile fire. The five people familiar with Khamenei's decision-making process stressed that other insiders who have not been targeted by Israel's strikes remain important and influential, including top advisers on political, economic and diplomatic issues. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a ceremony in Tehran on June 4. | / VIA AFP-JIJI Khamenei designates such advisers to handle issues as they arise, extending his reach directly into a wide array of institutions spanning military, security, cultural, political and economic domains, two of the sources said. Operating this way, including in bodies nominally under the elected president, means Khamenei's office is often involved not only in the biggest questions of state but in executing even minor initiatives, according to the people with knowledge. His son Mojtaba has grown ever more central to this process over the past 20 years, the sources said, building a role that cuts between the personalities, factions and organizations involved to coordinate on specific issues, the sources said. A midranking cleric seen by some insiders as a potential successor to his aging father, Mojtaba has built close ties with the Guard, giving him added leverage across Iran's political and security apparatus, the people added. Ali Asghar Hejazi, the deputy of political security affairs at Khamenei's office, has been involved in sensitive security decisions and is often described as the most powerful intelligence official in Iran, according to the sources said. Meanwhile, the head of Khamenei's office, Mohammad Golpayegani, as well as former foreign ministers Ali Akbar Velayati and Kamal Kharazi, and ex-parliament speaker Ali Larijani, remain trusted confidants on diplomatic and domestic policies issues such as the nuclear dispute, the people said. The loss of the Revolutionary Guard commanders nonetheless decimates the top ranks of a military organization that Khamenei has put at the center of power since becoming supreme leader in 1989, relying on it for both internal security and regional strategy. While the regular army chain of command runs through the Defense Ministry under the elected president, the Guard answers personally to Khamenei, securing the best military equipment for their land, air and sea branches and giving their commanders a major state role. As he faces one of the most dangerous moments in the Islamic Republic's history, Khamenei finds himself further isolated by the recent losses other key advisers in the region as Iran's "Axis of Resistance" coalition has been hammered by Israel. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who was personally close to the Iranian leader, was killed by an Israeli airstrike in September last year and Syrian President Bashar Assad was overthrown by rebels in December.
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Iranian leader Ali Khamenei cutting a lonely figure as Israel decimates his inner circle
Iran 's 86-year-old supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cuts an increasingly lonely figure. Khamenei has seen his main military and security advisers killed by Israeli air strikes , leaving big holes in his inner circle and raising the risk of strategic errors, according to five people familiar with his decision-making process. One of those sources, who regularly attends meetings with Khamenei, described the risk of miscalculation to Iran on issues of defence and internal stability as 'extremely dangerous'. Several senior military commanders have been killed since Friday, including Khamenei's main advisers from the Revolutionary Guards, Iran's elite military force: the Guards' overall commander Hossein Salami; its aerospace chief Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who headed Iran's ballistic missile programme; senior intelligence officer Mohammad Kazemi; and wartime chief of staff Ali Shadmani. READ MORE These men were part of the supreme leader's inner circle of roughly 15-20 advisers comprising Guards commanders, clerics and politicians, according to the sources, who include three people who attend or have attended meetings with the leader on big issues and two officials who regularly attend. The loose group meets on an ad hoc basis. Members are characterised by unwavering loyalty to Khamenei and the ideology of the Islamic Republic. Khamenei, who was imprisoned before the 1979 revolution and maimed by a bomb attack before becoming leader in 1989, is profoundly committed to maintaining Iran's Islamic system of government and is deeply mistrustful of the West. [ Tehran choked in gridlock and dread Opens in new window ] Under Iran's system of government he has supreme command of the armed forces, the power to declare war, and can appoint or dismiss senior figures including military commanders and judges. 'Two things you can say about Khamenei: he is extremely stubborn but also extremely cautious. He is very cautious. That is why he has been in power for as long as he has,' said Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran programme at the Middle East Institute think-tank in Washington. 'Khamenei is pretty well placed to do the basic cost-benefit analysis which really fundamentally gets to one issue more important than anything else: regime survival.' The focus on survival has repeatedly been put to the test. Khamenei deployed the Revolutionary Guards and its affiliated Basij militia to quell national protests in 1999, 2009 and 2022. While the security forces have always been able to outlast demonstrators and restore state rule, years of western sanctions have caused widespread economic misery that analysts say could ultimately threaten internal unrest. Other insiders who have not been targeted by Israel's strikes remain important and influential, including top advisers on political, economic and diplomatic issues. Khamenei designates such advisers to handle issues as they arise, extending his reach directly into a wide array of institutions spanning military, security, cultural, political and economic domains. Operating this way, including in bodies nominally under the elected president, means Khamenei's office is often involved not only in the biggest questions of state but in executing even minor initiatives. His son Mojtaba Khamenei has grown more central to this process over the past 20 years, the sources said, building a role that cuts between the personalities, factions and organisations involved to co-ordinate on specific issues. A mid-ranking cleric seen by some insiders as a potential successor to his ageing father, Mojtaba has built close ties with the Guards, giving him added leverage across Iran's political and security apparatus. The loss of the Revolutionary Guards commanders decimates the top ranks of a military organisation that Khamenei has put at the centre of power since becoming supreme leader in 1989, relying on it for both internal security and regional strategy. While the regular army chain of command runs through the defence ministry under the elected president, the Guards answer personally to Khamenei, securing the best military equipment for their land, air and sea branches and giving their commanders a big role in state affairs. – Reuters
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
As Israel takes out Iran's military leadership, Khamenei is cornered and prone to errors
Iran's 86-year-old Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cuts an increasingly lonely figure. Advertisement Khamenei has seen his main military and security advisers killed by Israeli air strikes, leaving major holes in his inner circle and raising the risk of strategic errors, according to five people familiar with his decision-making process. One of those sources, who regularly attends meetings with Khamenei, described the risk of miscalculation to Iran on issues of defence and internal stability as 'extremely dangerous'. Several senior military commanders have been killed since Friday, including Khamenei's main advisers from the Revolutionary Guards, Iran's elite military force: the Guards' overall commander Hossein Salami, its aerospace chief Amir Ali Hajizadeh who headed Iran's ballistic missile programme and spymaster Mohammad Kazemi. These men were part of the supreme leader's inner circle of roughly 15 to 20 advisers comprising Guards commanders, clerics, and politicians, according to the sources who include three people who attend or have attended meetings with the leader on major issues and two close to officials who regularly attend. Advertisement The loose group meets on an ad hoc basis, when Khamenei's office reaches out to relevant advisers to gather at his compound in Tehran to discuss an important decision, all the people said. Members are characterised by unwavering loyalty to him and the ideology of the Islamic republic, they added.
