As the operation Epic Fury enters its 38th day, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is carrying out strikes against Iran’s military-terrorist leadership, killing several key commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The IRGC’s spy chief, Majid Khademi, was eliminated in an Israeli strike in ‘the heart of Tehran,’ the IDF announced on Monday. “Iranian state media confirmed his death,” Israel’s Ynetnews reported. “He was considered one of the three most senior figures in the [IRGC], and his killing is seen as a significant blow to the Guards’ intelligence and operational capabilities.”
Israeli fighter jets “conducted a strike in Tehran and eliminated Majid Khademi, the Head of Intelligence of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),” the IDF revealed.
Khademi rose to the position of Iran’s top spy master after Israel eliminated his predecessor, Mohammad Kazemi, during the 12-Day War last June. “Khademi was one of the IRGC’s most senior commanders and had accumulated extensive military and security experience over many years,” the IDF noted. “Khademi was appointed to his position following the elimination of Mohammad Kazemi in Operation Rising Lion. In his role, he was responsible for gathering intelligence and helping formulate a comprehensive situational assessment for the regime’s senior leadership during Operation Roaring Lion.”
The slain spy chief was responsible for carrying out terrorist attacks against Israeli and U.S. nationals. Khademi “worked to advance terrorist activities against the State of Israel and against Jewish targets worldwide. He also took part in attempts to target American individuals and was responsible for monitoring Iranian civilians as part of the regime’s suppression of internal protests,” the IDF added.
In another serious blow to the IRGC, the IDF took out Asghar Bagheri, commander of the IRGC-Quds Force’s Special Operations Unit (840), which carries out terrorist activities across the world.
On Sunday, the Israeli Air Force “conducted a strike in Tehran and eliminated Asghar Bagheri, Commander of the Quds Force’s Special Operations Unit (840) since 2019,” the IDF revealed. “Under his command, the unit advanced operations targeting IDF soldiers on the Syrian-Israel border. He did so using Syrian operatives who had previously served in Assad’s army.”
“His elimination is part of the significant damage the IDF is inflicting on the Quds Force’s Special Operations Unit and constitutes a further blow to the unit’s ability to carry out terrorist attacks against the State of Israel and its civilians,” the Israeli military said.
According to the Israel-based think tank, Alma Research and Education Center, the terrorist 840 unit “is responsible for promoting and directing terrorist activity against Israelis and Jews inside Israel, along its borders, and worldwide, through terrorist cells remotely directed by it.
The “Unit 840 has carried out terrorist activity, among other places, in the Netherlands, Turkey, the United States, Azerbaijan, and Colombia,” the think tank noted.
Another Israeli airstrike struck the command center of the IRGC-Quds Forces’ “Imam Hussein Division” and killed a commander and several top operatives of the terrorist outfit.
“Yesterday (Sunday), the Israeli Air Force, acting on IDF intelligence, struck the main headquarters responsible for managing the firepower of the ‘Imam Hussein’ Division, and eliminated the organization’s head of artillery, the terrorist Kamil Melhem, along with additional terrorists, including aides to Division Commander, Yahya Hussein,” the Israeli military announced. “In his role, Melhem directed and oversaw artillery launch attacks toward the State of Israel and IDF troops. He also served as a central knowledge authority and was one of the division’s key commanders.”
The IRGC-QF’s Imam Hussein Division operates as an Iranian terrorist legion fighting along with proxy terror groups, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah. “The ‘Imam Hussein’ Division serves as a military force used by the Quds Force to strengthen the so-called ‘Axis of Resistance’ and to execute terrorist attacks against IDF soldiers and civilians of the State of Israel,” the IDF explained in a statement on Monday.
Besides the regime’s military-terrorist command structure, Israel is also targeting its terrorism-linked oil infrastructure. On Monday, the IDF hit Iran’s largest petrochemical complex in the southern coastal city of Asaluyeh. The petrochemical and nearby facilities were hit in a wave of strikes, news reports suggest.
“Israel struck Iran’s largest petrochemical complex at Asaluyeh on Monday, defence minister Israel Katz said, in what he described as a severe economic blow to Tehran,” Reuters reported. “Several explosions were heard at Iran’s South Pars Petrochemical complex in Asaluyeh, Fars news agency reported on Monday.”
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