Iran’s intelligence chief among latest key senior officials killed in Israeli airstrikes

Iran’s intelligence chief and other key senior officials were killed in an Israeli airstrike as they attended a meeting together, according to Israeli officials.

Mohammed Kazemi, the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ head of intelligence, was killed Sunday alongside his deputy, Hassan Mohaqiq and others during an attack on Tehran, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said.

Israeli forces were able to take out the three at once while they were attending a meeting together, the IDF said.

“[Israeli] fighter jets, following precise IDF intelligence, struck a structure in Tehran where several senior officials from Iranian intelligence organizations were located,” the IDF said.

“These officials played a central role in shaping Iran’s strategic assessments and planning terrorist attacks against Israel, the West, and countries in the Middle East.”

Kazemi had been the Revolutionary Guard’s chief of intelligence since 2022, and was responsible for leading counterintelligence and espionage operations — including weeding out Iranian citizens who opposed the regime.

Kazemi’s death was first revealed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Moments ago, we also got the chief intelligence officer and his deputy in Tehran,” Netanyahu told Fox News in an interview on Sunday afternoon from an undisclosed location in Israel.

“Our brave pilots are over the skies of Tehran, and we’re targeting military sites, nuclear sites,” he added.

His death was later confirmed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

Quds Force Intelligence Department head, Mohsen Bakri, and his deputy, Abu al-Fadl Nikouei, were also killed in the strike.

The pair played a significant role in Iran’s efforts to maintain its presence in Syria and support Hezbollah in Lebanon, according to the IDF.