The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit announced Tuesday that 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.
According to the military, the strike was a joint operation by the Military Intelligence Directorate and the Israeli Air Force, based on precise intelligence and a "sudden opportunity." Fighter jets reportedly struck a manned command center in the heart of the Iranian capital, eliminating Shadmani.
Shadmani was commander of Iran’s Armed Forces Emergency Headquarters and oversaw both the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the country’s active army. He was appointed to lead Iran's armed forces following the death of his predecessor, Alam Ali Rashid, who was killed in the opening strike of Operation Rising Lion.
The IDF added that under Shadmani’s leadership, the "Khatam al-Anbiya" emergency command post managed Iranian war planning and approved offensive operations. His elimination, according to the military, directly disrupts Iran’s attack plans against Israel and represents a significant blow to the upper ranks of Iran’s military command.
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"Shadmani's elimination adds to a series of eliminations of Iran’s most senior military leadership and degrades the chain of command of the Iranian armed forces," the statement read.
IDF footage of strikes in Iran
(Video: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
In the opening salvo of the Israeli operation, 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.
Earlier this week, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported that five car bombs exploded across Tehran following a wave of Israeli airstrikes throughout the Islamic Republic. Iranian sources said the blasts also killed several nuclear scientists.