The top Iranian officials killed since Iran war's start
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A banner depicting Iran's slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is displayed before Iranian flags and black banners in Tehran this month following his death. Photo: Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images
Israeli forces' killing of two top Iranian officials in separate strikes Tuesday marked a major blow to Tehran's leadership, which has been decimated during the Iran war.
The big picture: National security chief Ali Larijani and Basij paramilitary commander Gholamreza Soleimani are among dozens of Iranian officials killed during the war. Many died along with the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Feb. 28, the first day of U.S. and Israeli airstrikes.
Here's a timeline of the killings of other top officials:
Feb. 28
Israel's government said its opening strikes killed seven senior defense and intelligence officials and targeted 30 top military and civilian leaders overall.
- In addition to Khamenei, his top security adviser, Ali Shamkhani, was killed — as was Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Cmdr. Mohammad Pakpour; Abdolrahim Mousavi, chief of staff of the armed forces; and Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh.
- Also reported dead were Khamenei's chief military secretary Mohammad Shirazi; military intelligence chief Saleh Asadi; Hossein Jabal Amelian, chair of the SPND, Iran's nuclear weapons research organization; and former SPND chair Reza Mozaffari-Nia.
- Maj. Gen. Mohsen Darebaghi, deputy chief of logistics and industrial research; police intelligence chief Gholamreza Rezaian; and Maj. Gen. Bahram Hosseini Motlagh, plans and operations chief, were also killed.
March 3
Israeli forces said they killed Majid ibn al-Reza in an airstrike, one day after he was appointed as Aziz Nasirzadeh's replacement as defense minister.
- They also announced that Reza Khazaei, a top member of the IRGC's elite Quds Force, was killed in a strike in Beirut, Lebanon.
March 8
A targeted Israeli drone strike on a four-star Beirut hotel killed at least four IRGC officials, the Israel Defense Forces said.
- Iran's ambassador to the UN identified those killed as as Majid Hassini, a senior financial officer; Lebanon Corps intelligence chief Ali Reza Bi-Azar; Palestine Corps intelligence chief Ahmad Rasouli; and intelligence officer Hossein Ahmadlou.
March 12
Abu Dhar Mohammadi, operations commander in the IRGC's missile unit within Hezbollah in Beirut, was killed in a strike, the IDF said.
March 17
An Israeli official said Larijani was attacked in a Tehran safe house, Axios' Barak Ravid reports.
- Israeli forces struck Soleimani alongside several top lieutenants in a makeshift headquarters, according to the official.
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