Senior IRGC, regime officials killed in Israel-US strikes on Iran, source says

Israeli and US strikes on Iran killed several senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders and Islamic Regime political officials, an Iranian source close to the establishment told Reuters on Saturday.

Security forces blocked roads in the Tehran area that is home to the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Masoud Pezeshkian, and parliament, witnesses said.

This follows on from Israel and the United States launching an attack on Iran, with Iranian state media reporting explosions heard in Tehran, Qom, Isfahan, Kermanshah, and Karaj.

Satellite imagery showed an alleged Israeli strike on the bunker where Khamenei is being guarded.

An Iranian military official later declines Reuters request to comment when asked if Khamenei or Pezeshkian had been targeted in the Israeli and US strikes on the Islamic Regime.

Iranian media reported strikes targeting the IRGC’s intelligence headquarters, as well as explosions in central Tehran. The country has closed its airspace in response to the strikes.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement, saying that the aim of the operation was to remove the Ayatollah’s regime from power.

The operation “will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands,” he said.

“The time has come for all sections of the people in Iran… to remove the yoke of tyranny from (the regime) and bring a free and peace-loving Iran,” he added.

“For 47 years, the Ayatollah regime has called for ‘Death to Israel’ and ‘Death to America.’ It has spilled our blood, murdered many Americans, and massacred its own people,” Netanyahu said, while thanking US President Trump for his “historic friendship.”

“This murderous terrorist regime must not be allowed to arm itself with nuclear weapons that would enable it to threaten all of humanity,” he added.

“The time has come for all segments of the Iranian people – Persians, Kurds, Azeris, Balochis, and Ahwazis – to rid themselves of the yoke of tyranny and bring about a free and peace-seeking Iran,” Netanyahu stated, mentioning the largest ethnic groups across Iran.

“We shall stand together, fight together, and ensure the eternity of Israel together,” he concluded.

Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi also issued a similar statement, while also calling on Iranian military and police officers to aid anti-regime activity and depose the Islamic Regime.

The IDF issued a statement, confirming the name of the operation as “Roaring Lion,” which was launched to “thoroughly degrade the Iranian terrorist regime and to remove existential threats to the State of Israel over time.”

The Israeli and US strikes targeted dozens of military targets as part of a broad, coordinated, joint operation against the regime.

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