The IDF says it killed 40 “key” Iranian military commanders in its opening strikes in Iran yesterday, including Iran’s chief of staff, Abdolrahim Mousavi.
The 40 commanders, along with other top Iranian officials — including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei — were killed in strikes carried out in under a minute, according to the military.
The IDF says it can now confirm that Mousavi was killed in the opening strikes. Mousavi had replaced Mohammad Bagheri, who was killed in Israel’s opening strikes during June 2025’s war.
Mousavi was responsible for “managing Iran’s security apparatus and oversaw the firing of hundreds of ballistic missiles launched toward Israeli territory, which killed Israeli civilians during the operation,” the military says.
The IDF says that “the majority of the highest-ranking senior military officials of the Iranian security leadership have been eliminated by the IDF.”
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From the Liveblog of
Sunday, March 1, 2026
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