Iran’s Top Command Hit: Tehran Vows Revenge After Israeli Strikes

After multiple senior Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists were killed in Israeli strikes on Tehran in the early hours of Friday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pledged “severe punishment” and warned of consequences for what he called a deliberate act of aggression.

As per a Reuters news report, Israel launched wide-scale strikes against Iran on Friday, saying it targeted nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories, as well as military commanders.

What exactly happened in Tehran on Friday morning?

A series of explosions rocked parts of Tehran just after midnight on Friday. Iranian media initially reported “suspicious blasts” in residential and military zones. However, by morning, officials confirmed that high-ranking figures from Iran’s military and scientific establishment had been killed in what was described as a coordinated and targeted attack.

Who were the individuals killed in the strikes?

Among those confirmed dead are:

• Major General Hossein Salami, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)
• Major General Gholam Ali Rashid, head of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters
• Fereydoun Abbasi, former head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation and prominent nuclear physicist
• Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, senior scientist closely associated with Iran’s nuclear research programmes

Their deaths are being treated as high-profile assassinations intended to debilitate Iran’s military and nuclear chain of command.

How has Iran’s leadership responded to the killings?

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued an official statement later on Friday, condemning the killings as a cowardly act of terror. He accused Israel of deliberately targeting residential areas and vowed that the “powerful hand” of Iran’s armed forces would respond, as per media reports. He described the attack as a “filthy crime” that exposed what he called the Zionist regime’s “malignant nature”.

What are the implications for regional stability?

Tensions between Iran and Israel have been simmering for months, particularly over Iran’s expanding nuclear activities and Israel’s covert campaign to disrupt them.

What happens next?

Iran’s Supreme Leader has signalled that the military is preparing a response. Analysts expect cyber, proxy, or missile-based retaliation in the coming days or weeks. In the past, such escalations have triggered tit-for-tat attacks across the region, including in Syria, Lebanon, and the Persian Gulf.