The Other McCain

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‘An Earth-Shattering Kaboom’: Israel Wipes Out Top Iranian Military Leaders UPDATE: ‘Decapitation Strike’ — List

Posted on | June 13, 2025 | 5 Comments

Wednesday I spoke to a colleague who said to me in a very matter-of-fact way that Iran was going to get hit soon. He isn’t some kind of security-clearance type, but he does have a few “sources close to the Trump administration,” as an Objective Journalist would say, and I don’t know how he knew it, but he was certainly correct. It has been pointed out that, on April 12, Trump said Iran had 60 days to reach an agreement on ending its nuclear weapons program, and today? Yeah — Day 61.

Anyway, this is YUGE:

Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) confirmed in the early hours of Friday morning local time that Israeli airstrikes on targets in the country eliminated Major General Hossein Salami, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Other arms of Iran’s state news apparatus confirmed several other high-profile regime members, including two nuclear scientists, were killed in the strikes. While unverified reports suggested that Salami may be far from the only high-ranking Iranian regime official to have been targeted successfully in the operation, he is the only one whose death the Iranian government has confirmed at press time.
Salami has sustained a place as one of the most prominent and belligerent senior leaders in the Iranian Islamist regime, regularly threatening attacks on America and Israel. In what was perhaps his final public appearance on Thursday, Salami declared that his forces were “war-tested and experienced,” prepared for war against its enemies.
The IRGC is both a U.S.-designated terrorist organization and a formal wing of the Iranian Armed Forces. Among its chief operations is to sustain relations between the Iranian terror state and its jihadist proxies, such as the Houthis in Yemen and Lebanese Hezbollah, and with fellow rogue states such as Venezuela and Cuba.
IRNA confirmed Salami’s death in a brief message that offered no details on the occurrence. It confirmed that Salami died in Tehran and claimed him a victim of “assassination.” In a separate report, the state news outlet confirmed a barrage of airstrikes over the capital city by the Israeli Air Force.
Another Iranian state media outlet, PressTV, reported early Friday that the strikes had “martyred … several other senior IRGC commanders and nuclear scientists.
“Veteran nuclear scientists Mohammad-Mehdi Tehranchi and Fereydoon Abbasi have also been martyred in the attack,” PressTV reported . . .

The list of targets eliminated already is very long — nuclear sites and missile sites among them — and Israel’s attacks are continuing.

UPDATE: Known kills so far:

  • IRGC Chief-of-Staff Hossein Salami
  • IRGC General Gholamali Rashid
  • Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri
  • Ali Shamkhani, Senior Advisor to Khamenei

And these nuclear scientists:

  • Dr. Fereydoun Abbasi
  • Dr. Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi
  • Dr. Abdolhamid Minouchehr
  • Dr. Ahmad Reza Zolfajari

Various sites associated with Iran’s nuclear and missile programs were also hit and, as I say, the Israeli strikes are continuing — it’s almost 10 a.m. in Iran now — so we can expect this list to grow.

UPDATE II: Associated Press (1:44 a.m. ET):

Israel attacked Iran’s capital early Friday in strikes that targeted the country’s nuclear program and killed at least two top military officers, raising the potential for an all-out war between the two bitter Middle East adversaries. It appeared to be the most significant attack Iran has faced since its 1980s war with Iraq.
The strikes came amid simmering tensions over Iran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program and appeared certain to trigger a reprisal, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warning that “severe punishment” would be directed at Israel. Israel said Iran had launched drones in an initial response.
Multiple sites around the country were hit, including Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility, where black smoke could be seen rising into the air.
The leader of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami, was confirmed dead, Iranian state television reported, a development that is a significant blow to Tehran’s governing theocracy and an immediate escalation of its long-simmering conflict with Israel.
The chief of staff of Iranian armed forces, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, was also confirmed dead by Iranian state television. Other top military officials and scientists were believed to have been killed. . . .
Some 200 Israeli aircraft took part in the opertion, hitting about 100 targets, Israeli army chief spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said, adding that the attacks were ongoing.
In the aftermath, Defrin said Iran had launched more than 100 drones toward Israel and that “all the defense systems are acting to intercept the threats.”



 

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5 Responses to “‘An Earth-Shattering Kaboom’: Israel Wipes Out Top Iranian Military Leaders UPDATE: ‘Decapitation Strike’ — List”

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