The Israeli military announced it had killed Gholam Reza Soleimani, commander of Iran's Basij paramilitary organization for the past six years, in a precision airstrike carried out overnight in the heart of Tehran.
The Basij - the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' volunteer paramilitary force - played a central and brutal role in suppressing Iran's recent popular uprising © Mena Today
The Israeli military announced it had killed Gholam Reza Soleimani, commander of Iran's Basij paramilitary organization for the past six years, in a precision airstrike carried out overnight in the heart of Tehran.
According to the IDF communiqué, the air force conducted "a precise strike" in the Iranian capital "based on intelligence provided by military intelligence", describing the operation as part of a broader campaign that has already eliminated "dozens of senior officials" linked to Iran's security apparatus, delivering "an additional blow" to its command structures.
The Basij - the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' volunteer paramilitary force - played a central and brutal role in suppressing Iran's recent popular uprising, during which thousands of protesters were killed by security forces. Under Soleimani's command, the organization served as the regime's most feared internal repression tool, the front line against Iran's own population.
His elimination removes one of the key architects of that repression from the battlefield.
Israel's Systematic Decapitation Campaign
The strike on Soleimani is the latest in Israel's methodical targeting of Iran's security and military leadership - following the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, multiple IRGC commanders and, most recently, security chief Ali Larijani.
The IDF made its intentions clear: it "will continue its operations against the leaders" of the Iranian regime and its security apparatus.
Iran has warned the United States that it would respond forcefully to an Israeli offensive on a mountainous ridge in southern Lebanon where Iranian military personnel are holed up alongside Hezbollah fighters, three officials briefed on the message told Reuters.
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the renewed U.S. campaign against Iran would not continue for "too long" after the biggest exchange of fire between Tehran and Washington since July.
Top aides to President Donald Trump are pushing to keep the Iran war from escalating before November's midterm elections to staunch Republican electoral losses, four people familiar with the discussions said, a strategy already under strain as the U.S. and Iran exchanged back-and-forth attacks overnight.
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