The IDF announced Friday that Esmail Ahmadi, the intelligence chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Basij militia, was killed in recent strikes that also killed other top commanders, including Basij chief Gholamreza Soleimani and his deputy.

The IDF earlier confirmed the death of Ali Mohammad Naini, an IRGC spokesperson and senior propaganda official, describing him as a key figure responsible for disseminating messaging to Iran’s regional proxies and advancing attacks against Israel.

In a separate statement, the military said Mehdi Rastami Sh’mastan, a senior official in Iran’s Intelligence Ministry, was killed earlier this week in a strike in Tehran. Israeli officials said Sh’mastan played a central role in planning and executing attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets worldwide.

Israeli officials say the strikes are part of a broader effort to reduce Iran’s missile and drone capabilities and to weaken the command structure of its security apparatus.

According to the IDF, more than 130 regime-linked infrastructure sites—including ballistic missile facilities, UAV systems and air defenses—were targeted in a single night of operations earlier this week. Additional strikes were reported Friday in Nur, east of Tehran, and in other locations across the country.

Iranian media have acknowledged some of the attacks, including reported damage to port infrastructure in Bandar-e Lengeh and casualties among Basij forces in Tabriz following a separate strike.

A human rights monitoring group reported that more than 3,000 people have been killed in Iran since the start of the campaign in late February, though the figures do not distinguish between civilian and military casualties.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)