Iranian state media have confirmed the country’s top general and a key adviser to the late supreme leader have both been killed in the US and Israeli attacks on the country.
Admiral Ali Shamkhani, who was a key advisor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and secretary of Iran’s Defense Council, and Major General Mohammad Pakpour, the Commander-in-Chief of the elite Iran Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC), were both killed on Saturday, said state affiliated news agency IRNA.
Ali Shamkhani has been a towering figure in the Iranian power structure for decades. He served as country’s top national security officials for a decade from 2013, and before that served in a number of important roles, including in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the ministry of defense.
Israel claimed to have killed him in strikes during the 12-day conflict last June, but it later emerged he had survived and he returned to a key position with the Defense Council late last year.
Shamkhani, who once ran for the presidency in 2001, had been a rising star of Iranian diplomacy, well known in foreign-policy circles in Washington and Europe.
Shamkhani represented Iran in China-brokered talks with Saudi officials that led to the two countries agreeing to re-establish diplomatic ties after years of hostility.
But he was abruptly replaced in mid-2023.
Still, he remained a close aide to the supreme leader, and gave advice as Iran re-entered nuclear talks with the administration of US President Donald Trump.
Mohammad Pakpour was promoted to lead the IRGC, after the death of his predcessor Hossein Salami during the 12-day conflict last year.
Pakpour had joined the IRGC soon after its formation following the Islamic revolution in 1979. He went on to become the head of the IRGC Ground Forces before being elevated to the top position.
In a statement earlier Sunday, a senior commander said the structure of IRGC was “designed in such a way that immediately after the martyrdom of any commander… competent and capable individuals are replaced,” the state affiliated Fars news agency reported.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is the elite wing of the Iranian military – answerable only to the supreme leader – and tasked not only with combating enemies abroad but, increasingly, stamping out protests at home.
CNN’s Ross Adkin contributed reporting.