Iran is facing one of the most dramatic ruptures in its political and military leadership since the 1979 Islamic Revolution after coordinated United States and Israeli airstrikes killed several of the country’s most powerful figures on Saturday.
The strikes, carried out under two parallel military campaigns — Operation Epic Fury by Washington and Operation Roaring Lion by Tel Aviv — targeted Iran’s top decision-makers, triggering retaliatory missile launches from Tehran.
The casualty number went into dozens and included Iran’s supreme leader, the chief of army staff, the defence minister, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), senior security advisers, intelligence officers and officials associated with Iran’s nuclear and advanced weapons research programmes.
According to figures released by Iran’s Red Crescent and broadcast on Iranian state television,
the strikes killed 201 people and injured 747 others across the country.
Who were the top Iranian leaders killed in US-Israel strikes?
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei & family members
Iranian state television confirmed the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His death
represents the most consequential political loss in the Islamic Republic’s history since the passing of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989.
Khamenei, born in 1939 in the northeastern city of Mashhad, came from a religious family and entered political activism during his early adulthood.
He aligned himself with the clerical opposition movement led by Khomeini in the early 1960s, when resistance to Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s rule was building momentum.
After the 1979 Islamic Revolution overthrew the US-backed monarchy,
Khamenei rose rapidly through the newly formed political system.
He served in senior defence roles and was instrumental in the formation and organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which later evolved into one of the most powerful pillars of Iran’s security architecture.
Following Khomeini’s death in June 1989, Iran’s clerical establishment selected Khamenei as the country’s new supreme leader. At the time, he did not meet the religious ranking originally required by the constitution for the position.
The constitution was subsequently revised, allowing the requirement to be redefined in terms of demonstrated Islamic scholarship rather than clerical seniority.
Over more than three decades at the helm, Khamenei exercised sweeping authority over Iran’s political institutions and armed forces.
US President Donald Trump described Khamenei as “one of the most evil people in history.”
Iranian media also confirmed that members of Khamenei’s immediate family were killed in the Israeli missile strikes. His
daughter, son-in-law and a grandchild were reported dead.
His wife, Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh, is the daughter of Mashhad-based businessman Mohammad Esmaeil Khojasteh Bagherzadeh. The couple had six children, including three daughters — Hoda, Meysam and Bushra — along with multiple grandchildren.
While public information about the family’s whereabouts was limited, reports suggested that most close relatives resided in Iran, with some family members, including nephews and grandchildren, living overseas in Paris.
Abdol Rahim Mousavi, Aziz Nasirzadeh & Ali Shamkhani
Iranian state television reported that the strikes
also killed Chief of Army Staff Gen. Abdol Rahim Mousavi and Defence Minister Gen. Aziz Nasirzadeh, along with Ali Shamkhani, a senior security adviser.
Mousavi, as Iran’s top uniformed military officer, played a central role in overseeing the country’s armed forces. His death, alongside that of Nasirzadeh, removed two of the most senior operational figures responsible for Iran’s military planning and defence posture.
Nasirzadeh, who previously served as commander of the Iranian Air Force and as deputy chief of staff of the armed forces, was believed to be responsible for facilities producing long-range missiles and for systems transferred to Iran’s regional proxy forces.
He was also believed to have supervised the Organisation of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND), which advances projects in nuclear, biological and chemical domains.
Ali Shamkhani had been one of Iran’s most influential security figures since the early years of the Islamic Republic. He held senior defence and security posts dating back to the period immediately following the 1979 revolution that overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
Over the years, he has served as IRGC navy chief, army chief, and later as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.
Shamkhani was a close adviser to the supreme leader and played a role in Iran’s diplomatic engagement with Saudi Arabia in 2023, helping facilitate the restoration of ties between the two regional rivals.
After last year’s 12-day conflict with Israel, he was appointed head of Iran’s Defence Council. Israeli forces had previously targeted him during last June’s war and initially believed he had been killed at the time.
IRGC commander Mohammad Pakpour
Mohammad Pakpour, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was among the highest-ranking figures confirmed killed in the February 28 strikes.
Pakpour had been appointed to lead the IRGC in June last year by Khamenei after his predecessor, Hossein Salami, was killed in Israeli airstrikes. At the time of his appointment, he was tasked with strengthening the organisation’s operational capacity, preparedness and internal cohesion.
It is entrusted with safeguarding the political system of the Islamic Republic and holds authority over Iran’s missile forces, internal security mechanisms and a network of allied armed groups operating beyond Iran’s borders.
Pakpour had previously commanded the IRGC Ground Forces, a position he assumed in 2009. He joined the IRGC Quds Force after the 1979 revolution and was deployed in operations against militant groups in Iran’s Kurdistan region.
During the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, he commanded multiple frontline divisions, establishing his reputation as a battlefield commander before rising through the ranks.
According to Iranian state-linked media, Pakpour was born in 1961 in Arak. He earned a master’s degree in geography from the University of Tehran and later completed a PhD in political geography at Tarbiat Modares University.
Israeli officials described Pakpour as one of the central strategists behind Iran’s military posture towards Israel. He was accused of overseeing deployments of strategic fire systems and of directing and supporting Iranian-backed armed groups operating outside the country.
He was also reported to have played a leading role in suppressing protests in Iran during the previous month.
Nuclear-linked officials, intelligence officers
The strikes also killed several figures linked to Iran’s advanced weapons and nuclear research infrastructure. Hossein Jabal Amelian, head of the Organisation of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND), was reported dead.
He was described as being responsible for the development of advanced technologies and weapons systems for the Iranian state, including projects associated with nuclear, biological and chemical fields.
Reza Mozaffari-Nia, a former head of SPND, was also among those killed. He was believed to have played a role in advancing efforts linked to nuclear weapons development.
Saleh Asadi, a senior intelligence officer serving within Iran’s emergency command structure and general staff, was reported to have been killed as well. He was believed to have been involved in shaping Iran’s foreign policy approach towards both Israel and the United States.
The elimination of these figures followed a pattern established during last year’s 12-day conflict, in which large segments of Iran’s nuclear-linked leadership and defence apparatus were targeted.
Israel stated that Operation Roaring Lion was intended to “degrade the Iranian terrorist regime and to remove existential threats to Israel over time,” while Washington framed Operation Epic Fury as an effort to dismantle what it viewed as
long-standing security dangers posed by Iran’s leadership and military capabilities.
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With inputs from agencies
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