TEHRAN – Several top military officials, nuclear scientists, and civilians were killed, and more than 300 injured, in Israel’s airstrikes on Iran.
According to Iranian media, the deadliest strikes occurred in Tehran, where Israel targeted Iran’s nuclear, military, and strategic installations.
The death toll has risen to 78 in Tehran and other cities, with 329 people injured — dozens of them critically — raising fears that the death count could increase. Meanwhile, Israel has threatened more strikes.
Iran’s semi-official Nour News reported that these were the most intense bombings on Iranian soil in decades.
Fars News Agency confirmed that IRGC chief Major General Hossein Salami was killed in an attack on the central headquarters in Tehran.
Among the deceased are Iranian Army Deputy Commander General Gholam Ali Rashid, prominent nuclear scientists Fereydoon Abbasi and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi.
Israel also struck the Ahmadinejad Nuclear Facility in Natanz, where Professor Ahmad Reza Zolfaghari was killed.
Ali Shamkhani, senior advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was seriously injured and hospitalized.
The Israeli military said the airstrikes destroyed dozens of Iranian surface-to-surface missile launchers, warehouses, and key military installations.
According to Israel’s Channel 12, strikes also targeted Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport and Bushehr Airport, both used by the Iranian Air Force.
The scope of the Israeli attack extended to the northwestern city of Tabriz and the southwestern city of Kermanshah.
