Former Iran Army Chief Dies of Covid-19

Former Iranian armed forces chief Hasan Firouzabadi, who has reportedly died of Covid at the age of 70, is seen saluting during an annual military parade in this file picture taken on September 22, 2010. (AFP)
Former Iranian armed forces chief Hasan Firouzabadi, who has reportedly died of Covid at the age of 70, is seen saluting during an annual military parade in this file picture taken on September 22, 2010. (AFP)
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Former Iran Army Chief Dies of Covid-19

Former Iranian armed forces chief Hasan Firouzabadi, who has reportedly died of Covid at the age of 70, is seen saluting during an annual military parade in this file picture taken on September 22, 2010. (AFP)
Former Iranian armed forces chief Hasan Firouzabadi, who has reportedly died of Covid at the age of 70, is seen saluting during an annual military parade in this file picture taken on September 22, 2010. (AFP)

Former Iranian armed forces chief Hassan Firouzabadi, who once accused Western nations of spying on the country using lizards, has died of coronavirus aged 70, local media reported on Friday.

Revolutionary Guards chief Hossein Salami praised Firouzabadi’s “continuous efforts” to defend “the sacred system of Iran”, in a statement published on the Guards’ Sepahnews website.

A trained doctor, Firouzabadi joined the Basij volunteer militia during the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-88.

Serving in administrative roles, he swiftly rose up its ranks before being named head of the armed forces in September 1989 by Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, remaining in the post until 2016.

Iran’s armed forces chief has authority over both the regular army and the Revolutionary Guard Corps.

That made Firouzabadi one of the main architects of Iranian military support for Baghdad and Damascus in their battles against the ISIS group and other extremist movements.

Replaced by Mohammad Hossein Bagheri at the head of the armed forces, Firouzabadi then served as Khamenei’s military adviser until his death.

The Fars news agency reported that he died after contracting Covid-19.

In 2018, during an international face-off over the death in jail of Iranian-Canadian environmentalist Kavous Seyed Emami, Firouzabadi accused Western countries of using lizards and chameleons as “nuclear spies” to “find uranium mines and atomic activity” in Iran.



Russian Attack Kills Two in City of Poltava, Ukrainian Officials Say

A view shows the site of a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Poltava, Ukraine July 3, 2025. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Poltava region/Handout via REUTERS
A view shows the site of a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Poltava, Ukraine July 3, 2025. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Poltava region/Handout via REUTERS
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Russian Attack Kills Two in City of Poltava, Ukrainian Officials Say

A view shows the site of a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Poltava, Ukraine July 3, 2025. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Poltava region/Handout via REUTERS
A view shows the site of a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Poltava, Ukraine July 3, 2025. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Poltava region/Handout via REUTERS

A Russian attack on the city of Poltava in central Ukraine killed two people and damaged a military recruitment center, the Ukrainian military and regional officials said on Thursday.

Regional governor Volodymyr Kohut said 11 people were also wounded, while the military reported fires in the military recruitment building and in a nearby residential building, reported Reuters.

Photos from the scene posted by emergency services showed firefighters battling blazes as well as damaged buildings and cars.

Russia has stepped up drone and missile attacks on Ukraine in the last month, and has launched some of the biggest attacks since its full-scale invasion that began in February 2022.

The aerial assault followed a drone attack on Monday near a military recruitment center in the central city of Kryvyi Rih.

Civilians were wounded in Kryvyi Rih, the military said, adding that military personnel and civilian employees of the recruitment center had sheltered during the air alert.

Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, have underlined the urgency of assistance on air defense from allies to defend against such assaults.