On Friday, Israel’s unprecedented military operation in Iran targeted and killed leading members of Iran’s armed forces during widespread strikes on military and nuclear sites.
Here’s what we know about the two top figures killed:
Armed Forces Chief of Staff Bagheri
General Mohammad Bagheri was the highest-ranking officer in the Iranian armed forces, responsible for overseeing the army, Revolutionary Guards, and the country’s ballistic missile program. Appointed in 2016, Bagheri reported directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s ultimate decision-maker and commander-in-chief. As second in command, he held extensive authority over much of Iran’s military and frequently appeared on television in uniform, notably at the inauguration of underground military bases.
Bagheri was instrumental in developing Iran’s ballistic missile program. This arsenal, initially developed during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s to compensate for a weak air force, significantly increased in range and precision over the years. Israel has long considered these capabilities an existential threat.
Bagheri once declared, “The Zionist enemy should know that it is nearing the end of its miserable life,” referring to Israel as “a cancerous tumor.” In 2022, he boasted that Iran was “more than self-sufficient” in arms and equipment, claiming the country would become a top arms exporter if sanctions were lifted.
He was sanctioned by the U.S. during President Donald Trump’s first term and later by the European Union following the war in Ukraine.
Bagheri mocked the EU, suggesting they use Iran’s frozen assets to “buy coal” to heat themselves in winter, alluding to Iranian weapons aiding Russia. Born in June 1960, Bagheri succeeded Hassan Firouzabadi, who served as chief of staff for 26 years.
Revolutionary Guards Commander Salami
Hossein Salami, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, was a veteran officer with close ties to Supreme Leader Khamenei, known for his strong rhetoric against Israel and the U.S. “If you make the slightest mistake, we will open the gates of hell for you,” the general warned Tehran’s adversaries during an underground missile base tour in January.
Born in 1960, Salami joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in 1980 at the start of the Iran-Iraq war. He spent most of his career in the Guards, a force established after the 1979 revolution to defend its goals. The IRGC is estimated to be 125,000-strong, though Iran has not released official figures.
Salami rose to lead the Guards’ air force division and was placed on Washington’s sanctions blacklist. He served as the corps’ deputy commander for nine years before his promotion to the top position in 2019.
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had made support for the Palestinian cause a core of Tehran’s foreign policy, and Salami repeatedly echoed calls for Israel to be eradicated.
In a 2018 speech, he advised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “learn to swim in the Mediterranean Sea” in preparation to flee.
The Revolutionary Guards have been central to Iran’s proactive foreign policy in the Arab world, supporting militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, which led Gaza and Lebanon into conflict with Israel.
These conflicts were followed by the first direct exchanges of fire between Iran and Israel last year, which escalated into the larger wave of Israeli strikes on Iran on Friday, one of which tragically killed Salami.
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