IRGC Chief and Key Advisor to Khamenei Killed in Major Joint US-Israeli Military Operation

Iran's official news agency, IRNA, confirmed that Ali Shamkhani, the political advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Secretary of the National Defense Council, lost his life in the attack. Shamkhani had played a pivotal role in Iran’s top-tier leadership since the Iran-Iraq War and was notably on the U.S. sanctions list.

According to international news outlets BBC and Al Jazeera, the same operation also claimed the life of Mohammad Pakpour, the Commander-in-Chief of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). It is noteworthy that Pakpour assumed this critical position in June last year after his predecessor was killed during the Iran-Israel conflict. Having led the IRGC’s Ground Forces for 16 years, Pakpour was regarded as a primary architect of the country's military strategy. The deaths of these two veteran leaders, both experienced in the Iran-Iraq War, are seen as a massive blow to Iran's political and defense infrastructure. Analysts fear that the overall situation in the Middle East will become significantly more unstable following these assassinations.