Iran’s ex security chief Shamkhani killed in Israeli strikes

Iran’s former national security chief Ali Shamkhani has been killed in Israeli strikes on Iranian territory, according to Iranian state media.

“The assassination of Ali Shamkhani was also confirmed,” Iran’s state news network IRINN reported on June 13, Caliber.Az reports, citing CNN.

Shamkhani, a longtime political and military figure, served as secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council for nearly a decade and was a close adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Known internationally as a key diplomatic player, Shamkhani maintained significant ties in Washington and Europe.

Earlier, it was reported that among those killed was also Iran’s Armed Forces's Chief of Staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri, General Hossein Salami, Commander of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), whose death was later acknowledged by the IRGC in a formal statement. Additionally, one of Bagheri’s deputies was also said to have died in the strikes.

Israeli forces carried out a wide-ranging assault on more than a dozen targets across Iran, striking military bases, missile depots, and nuclear facilities in cities including Tehran, Isfahan, Arak, Tabriz, and Kermanshah. Iranian state media confirmed significant damage, particularly at the Natanz nuclear site and along the Tehran–Isfahan highway.

In a statement read on state television, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned the strikes and vowed retaliation, warning that “the Zionist regime has created a dark and painful fate for itself.” 

By Sabina Mammadli