• Source:JND
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Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Friday acted immediately to fill the leadership gap caused by Israel's bold pre-dawn attacks on major nuclear and military targets. In successive decrees, he named Major General Mohammad Pakpour as the new IRGC commander and Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi as the Armed Forces General Staff chief, succeeding assassinated generals Hossein Salami and Mohammad Bagheri.

Salami, Bagheri, Shamkhani Among High‑Profile Casualties

Israel’s massive air campaign, codenamed “Operation Rising Lion,” deployed over 200 fighter jets and 100 drones to hit Iran’s Natanz uranium‑enrichment facility, ballistic‑missile factories, and senior command centers, killing IRGC chief Hossein Salami, Armed Forces chief Mohammad Bagheri, and veteran diplomat‑general Ali Shamkhani, among others. This was one of the heaviest blows to Tehran’s defence establishment in decades. Khamenei appointed Abdolrahim Mousavi to succeed Mohammad Bagheri and Mohammad Pakpour to succeed Hossein Salami. Khamenei’s choice of Pakpour as the IRGC Ground Forces commander and career soldier Mousavi aims to project stability as Iran vows “forceful retaliation.”

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One senior Israeli defense source told The Jerusalem Post, "This is the first stage," raising the prospect of additional operations. Flights were diverted by Gulf airlines, oil prices surged, and the UN Security Council ordered an emergency session for Saturday. Diplomatic heavyweights the US, EU, Saudi Arabia, and India called for "maximum restraint" to prevent a full-scale regional conflict.

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In a video message following the strikes, Netanyahu stated, "We struck at the heart of Iran's nuclear enrichment programme… We will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat." The Prime Minister's decision to leave a message invoking the lion, an age-old symbol of strength and survival, was interpreted by many as a personal prayer and political signal.