Iran said on Wednesday that a senior commander of the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Ali Shadmani, had died of wounds sustained last week during the Israeli strikes.
On June 17, the Israeli military said it killed Shadmani in a strike on a “command center in the heart of Tehran.”
Israel described the Iranian commander as a wartime chief of staff and most senior military commander.
At the time, Iran had denied the Israeli claims.
Shadmani had taken his position on June 13, following the death of his predecessor, Gholam Ali Rashid, in the first bombings conducted by Israel.
On Wednesday, Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, which Shadmani led, vowed “severe revenge” for what it called the “criminal act” by Israeli forces, announcing the commander had died from injuries sustained in the attack, according to the IRNA state news agency.
The news agency said Iran will hold on Saturday state funerals for senior military commanders, including Shadmani, and top scientists killed during the war with Israel.
Earlier, the Israeli army’s Spokesperson’s Unit announced that based on precise intelligence and a “sudden opportunity,” Ali Shadmani, Iran’s wartime chief of staff and one of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s closest confidants, was killed overnight in a targeted airstrike in central Tehran. It added that the targeted killing of Shadmani marks another critical blow to Iran’s military command structure.
In the opening salvo of the Israeli operation against Iran, several other senior Iranian figures were also reported killed, including IRGC commander Hossein Salami, Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri, and IRGC intelligence head Mohammad Kazemi, along with multiple senior commanders and nuclear scientists.
Iran will hold on Saturday state funerals for senior military commanders and top scientists killed during the country’s 12-day war with Israel, official media said.
“The national funeral ceremony for... commanders and scientists martyred in the Zionist regime’s aggression will be held on Saturday from 8:00 am (0430 GMT)” in Tehran, official news agency IRNA reports, a day after the warring sides had agreed to a ceasefire.
It said the funeral of Hossein Salami, the head of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who was killed on June 13, will take place on Thursday in Isfahan.
The Iran-Israeli war killed at least 610 people and wounded 4,700 in Iran and 28 people in Israel, according to official figures.
