Iranian intelligence chief and militia commander among those killed in Israeli strikes

Multiple senior members of the Iranian military leadership were killed in strikes conducted by the Israeli military on Monday. Among them were Iran’s Revolutionary Guard intelligence chief and a militia commander. The casualties mark the latest high-ranking Iranian officials killed during the Iran war. 

Majid Khademi was the Guard’s chief of intelligence. The Israel Defense Forces announced his death in a post on X on early Monday morning.

“Khademi was one of the IRGC’s most senior commanders and had accumulated extensive experience over many years,” the IDF post read. “Khademi worked to advance terrorist attacks worldwide, and was responsible for monitoring Iranian civilians as part of the regime’s suppression of internal protests.”

In a graphic posted with the notification of Khademi’s death, the IDF noted that he led intelligence and counterintelligence efforts to “formulate strategic assessments and provide situational leadership intelligence” to the Iranian regime’s senior leadership. He is also accused of progressing “terrorist activities” against Israel, its allies, and American individuals. He also led the Iranian government’s suppression of its citizens, including during the recent protests against the government.

“Major General Khademi has recorded significant, enduring, and instructive contributions over nearly half a century of sincere and courageous guardianship of the Revolution, the system, and the Islamic homeland in the fields of intelligence and security,” read a note about his death from Tasnim News Agency, a media organization linked to the Revolutionary Guard. 

The news agency said on Monday that Khademi was the victim of “a terrorist attack by the American-Zionist enemy” and was “martyred.” 

In separate strikes conducted on Sunday, the IDF announced it had killed Kamil Melhem, the artillery chief for the Imam Hossein Division, a Hezbollah-linked Iranian militia, in Lebanon, the Times of Israel reported. Other important figures in the group were also reportedly killed during the strikes, including a commander’s aide. 

The IDF also announced that Asghar Bakri, commander of the Guard’s Quds Force’s clandestine Unit 840, was killed in strikes, according to the Times of Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lauded the death of Bakri, claiming that he was “responsible for attacks against Jews and Israelis around the world.”

Netanyahu commended the IDF for killing the high-level Iranian military officials in strikes in a post on X. He warned that Israel’s military was “acting with strength and determination” and would “reach everyone who seeks to harm us.” Netanyahu emphasized that Israel would continue its efforts “until the threat is removed and all the war’s objectives are achieved.”