Israel and Iran are locked in an escalating exchange of missiles, targeting each other’s security and economic infrastructure while also striking population centres.
The current escalation began after Israel launched strikes on Friday morning involving 200 fighter jets that hit dozens of nuclear, military and infrastructure targets across Iran, including the country’s main nuclear facility in Natanz.
The strikes came amid ongoing negotiations between Iran and the United States, Israel’s key ally, over Tehran’s nuclear programme, which Iran says is solely for civilian purposes.
Israel’s first wave of attacks killed at least four senior commanders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as well as several nuclear scientists. Israel claims these attacks are aimed at crippling Iran’s ability to build a nuclear bomb — and to militarily respond through the sword arm of its security forces, the IRGC.
But who exactly has Israel targeted, and what is the IRGC?
The attacks on Friday killed several senior military leaders, including:
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has appointed Abdolrahim Mousavi to replace Bagheri as chief of staff of the armed forces, Ahmad Vahidi to take Salami’s position as boss of the IRGC, and Majid Mousavi to replace Hajizadeh as head of the IRGC air force.
Separately, state-run news outlet Nour News said Khamenei’s senior adviser Ali Shamkhani was “critically injured”. Shamkhani was leading Iran’s diplomatic efforts with the US.
Six prominent Iranian nuclear scientists were also killed.
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