What We Know About Iran’s Top 3 Military Commanders Killed in Israeli Strikes

Major Generals Hossein Salami, Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, and Gholam Ali Rashid were the Iranian armed forces’ top three generals. Iran has vowed to avenge them.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander-in-Chief Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami speaks during a meeting with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran, on Aug. 17, 2023. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/West Asia News Agency via Reuters

WASHINGTON—Recent airstrikes by the State of Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran have eliminated the country’s top three military leaders, key architects of Iran’s alleged proxy warfare programs and efforts to construct a nuclear weapon that threatened Israel.

The strikes, conducted on the night of June 12 and 13, targeted Iranian facilities alleged to be producing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, as well as top Iranian scientific and military personnel, according to a video message from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, posted on social media.

Later, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a statement confirming that it had killed three high-ranking Iranian military commanders and identifying them by their titles.

“These are three ruthless mass murderers with international blood on their hands. The world is a better place without them,” the IDF wrote in its announcement of the deaths.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei confirmed the deaths on social media and vowed to retaliate.

“The Iranian nation won’t permit the blood of its valued martyrs to go unavenged, nor will it ignore the violation of its airspace,” wrote Khamenei, who has been Iran’s supreme leader—its highest political and religious authority—since 1989. As supreme leader, Khamenei outranks Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian.

The assassinations of the Iranian leaders make them the highest-ranking Iranian officials killed by Israel to date. The United States assassinated Lt. Gen. Qasem Soleimani in 2020.

Below, we explain the likely reasons for Israel’s decision to target them.

Hossein Salami

Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami was the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the primary service branch of Iran’s military. The office made Salami one of Iran’s principal military and political leaders.

Unlike traditional military branches, the IRGC is responsible for both external security and protecting Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary government, from both internal dissent and military coups by its regular armed forces.

The IRGC operates its own air force and navy, the Quds special operations forces unit (also known as the “Jerusalem Force” and once headed by Soleimani), as well as a military reserve unit known as the Basij.

The IRGC is responsible for protecting Iran’s nuclear facilities. It also owns a large amount of property in Iran and is seen as a key player in the country’s domestic economy, as well as the government’s politics. It has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and several Western countries.

Salami had been the commander-in-chief of the IRGC for over six years, beginning in 2019. He was a longtime IRGC officer who had spent 45 years in service, joining the IRGC in 1980, during Iran’s war against Iraq under Saddam Hussein, which lasted from 1980 to 1988.

He had served in a variety of roles. Before becoming IRGC commander-in-chief, he was the head of the IRGC’s Aerospace Force, which is an air force separate from the Iranian Air Force, for three years.

Salami had adopted much of the Iranian government’s harsh rhetoric about Israel, the United States, Saudi Arabia, and other nations. He had been sanctioned by the United Nations and many other countries for his alleged involvement in Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

Salami was killed after an Israeli missile struck his apartment in Tehran. Upon his death, Khamenei posthumously promoted Salami, and two others, to the rank of lieutenant general and appointed Maj. Gen. Mohammad Pakpour as the IRGC’s new commander-in-chief.

Mohammad Hossein Bagheri

Maj. Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri was the chief of the general staff of the Iranian armed forces and the highest-ranking officer in Iran’s regular military.

Bagheri’s position was equivalent to that of chairman of the joint chiefs of staff of the U.S. Armed Forces. Nominally, he outranked Salami and the IRGC, making him the leader of Iran’s combined military and police forces, which are the ninth largest in the world.

The Iranian army is not merely a ground force, but also operates Iran’s regular air forces, navy, and its air defense force, a radar-focused branch that monitors the country’s airspace against intrusion. To distinguish itself from the IRGC, the Iranian army is often called the “Artesh” in Persian. Though he led the general staff, Bagheri was responsible for the Iranian army and not the IRGC.

Bagheri had been involved in Iran’s revolutionary government for most of his life. He was reportedly one of the Iranian students who stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979, leading to a multi-year hostage crisis that became the basis for poor relations between Iran and the United States.

Bagheri began his career as an IRGC officer but was appointed to many regular army roles, signifying the former’s supremacy. His older brother, Hassan Bagheri, was an Iranian military hero who died in 1983 during the war against Iraq, and whose legacy was key to Mohammad Hossein Bagheri’s ascent in Iranian military circles.

Like Salami, Bagheri was killed by a targeted airstrike on his home. He was succeeded by Maj. Gen. Sayyid  Abdolrahim Mousavi upon his death.

Gholam Ali Rashid

Maj. Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid was the commander of the Khatam-al Anbiya central headquarters, which is Iran’s military command center—akin to the U.S. National Military Command Center at the Pentagon. In this role, Rashid was responsible for coordinating all Iranian military operations, as well as conveying orders from the supreme leader to the IRGC and Artesh for their execution.

Rashid, like Salami and Bagheri, was an IRGC officer who rose through the ranks of both that group and Artesh following service during the 1980-88 war with Iraq. He previously served as the deputy chief of the general staff of the Iranian armed forces.

Rashid was succeeded by Maj. Gen. Ali Shadmani, following his death.