Israel Kills Iran’s New War Chief as Strikes Continue

Israel killed a senior Iranian general Monday night, just days after eliminating his predecessor, the Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday morning, as the campaign against Iran’s nuclear program and Iran’s retaliatory missile barrages at Israel entered their fifth day.

Israel launched its campaign early Friday, asserting an imminent existential threat from the regime’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Explosions and air defense fire were reported Tuesday in Tehran. Air defenses were reportedly also activated in Natanz, home to a major uranium enrichment plant that was seriously damaged in Israel’s opening attack, and satellite images showed extensive damage at a missile base.

An airstrike Monday night killed Maj. Gen. Ali Shadmani, the new head of the Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters, also known as Iran’s military emergency command. He had only been on the job for some four days, having replaced Maj. Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid, who was killed on Friday in Israel’s opening strikes against Iran.

The IDF said Shadmani was de facto Iran’s most senior military commander, the “war chief of staff,” and was considered the closest remaining military figure to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Shadmani “commanded both the [Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps] and the Iranian Armed Forces” amid the conflict, the IDF said.

The IDF said that under Shadmani’s command, the Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters “was responsible for managing combat operations and approving Iran’s attack plans.

“In his various roles, he had a direct influence on Iran’s offensive plans targeting the State of Israel,” the military added.

Shadmani previously served as deputy of the Khatam-al Anbiya HQ and as chief of operations in Iran’s armed forces, the IDF said.

Further Strikes in Tehran, Natanz

Iranian media, meanwhile, reported explosions and heavy air defense fire in Tehran early on Tuesday, with smoke rising in the city’s east after an explosion of suspected Israeli projectiles.

Air defenses were also activated in Natanz, home to key nuclear installations, 200 miles away, the Asriran news website reported.

Iranian state-linked news outlets also reported that three people were killed and four injured in an Israeli attack on a checkpoint near the central city of Kashan, without specifying if they were civilians or military.

State broadcaster IRIB said three people were killed in an Israeli attack on its Tehran headquarters, and others wounded. Israel bombed the state broadcaster building Monday, after issuing an unprecedented evacuation warning for one of the capital’s most central districts.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said shortly before the strike that “the Iranian propaganda and incitement mouthpiece is on its way to disappearing,” while the IDF itself said the building was “used by the armed forces to advance military operations under civilian cover.”

Iranian officials have reported 224 deaths, mostly civilians, since the start of open fighting with Israel.

Israel has said it has been targeting Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists, as well as military and nuclear facilities. It has also struck oil and gas sites. Jerusalem leaders have said repeatedly that they are not at war with the Iranian people, only Tehran’s regime, and that strikes are carried out in a targeted manner to minimize civilian casualties.

IDF Hits Missile Launchers, Drones

Overnight Monday-Tuesday, the Israeli Air Force carried out several waves of strikes in western Iran, destroying anti-aircraft launchers, ballistic missile launchers, and drones, the IDF said.

“As part of the waves of strikes, the air force targeted dozens of infrastructure sites used for storing and launching surface-to-surface missiles, UAV storage sites, and surface-to-air missile launchers in western Iran,” the military said.

Satellite imagery from Monday published by Planet Labs showed heavy damage to buildings at a missile base north of the Iranian city of Tabriz, where Israel has been carrying out airstrikes.

Pictures showed buildings and vehicles destroyed, with evidence of wide swaths of burnt vegetation. In one picture, the remains of three destroyed missile launchers can be seen.

The IDF said Monday that it had destroyed about a third of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers, estimated to total around 400.

In a press conference Tuesday, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin revealed that Iranian soldiers who fired anti-aircraft missiles at an Israeli Air Force drone over Iran were killed in a strike on Sunday.

Defrin said the drone identified the Iranian soldiers preparing to launch additional missiles and struck the launcher and killed the soldiers.

Rescuers Killed in Strike

The Iranian Red Crescent said Monday that three of its rescue workers were killed by an Israeli airstrike in northwest Tehran.

“This incident is not only a crime against international humanitarian law but also a blatant attack on humanity and morality,” the organization said in a statement, adding that the three workers were aiding the wounded in the capital’s Shahid Bagheri district.

There was no immediate comment from the IDF, and the circumstances and target of the strike in question were unclear.