Operation Rising Lion: Top Iranian Military Officials, Nuclear Scientists Killed In Israeli Airstrikes Across Iran

Iran's Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami was killed in an Israeli air strike, codenamed Operation Rising Lion, early Friday (13 June), according to Iranian media reports.

Several other senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders and nuclear scientists are also reported to be among the dead in the large-scale Israeli strikes targeting Tehran and multiple provinces across Iran.

Iranian state television outlet IRIB confirmed that Major General Gholam Ali Rashid, commander of the central headquarters of the Iranian Armed Forces, was also killed in one of the attacks.

Veteran nuclear scientists Mohammad-Mehdi Tehranchi and Fereydoon Abbasi have also been martyred in separate attacks, Iranian state-owned Press TV reported.

The attacks were first reported around 3.00 a.m. local time on Friday in the Iranian capital, Tehran, followed by a series of explosions in several other provinces across the country.

In a statement after the strikes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the operation was launched to "roll back" the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival.

"Moments ago, Israel launched Operation “Rising Lion”, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival. This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat," Netanayhu said.

Meanwhile, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned that Israel would face severe consequences for the airstrikes.

Khamenei condemned the targeted airstrikes on Iran's military and nuclear sites and vowed Tehran's severe retaliation against Israel.

“In the early hours of today, the Zionist regime once again revealed its evil and bloodstained hand by committing a crime on our beloved soil, further exposing its malicious nature through attacks on residential areas. The regime must now await a harsh punishment,” read the statement from Khamenei.

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