The Israeli military announced that it had assassinated Gholam Reza Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Basij forces , in an airstrike.
The Israeli military said in a statement: “With precise guidance from the Military Intelligence Directorate, the Air Force carried out a raid yesterday in the heart of Tehran and eliminated Gholam Reza Soleimani, the commander of the Basij organization for the past six years.”
He also considered the assassination of Soleimani “a new success added to the success in eliminating dozens of senior leaders in the armed forces of the Iranian regime and an additional severe blow to the regime’s security command and control systems.”
He added that: “The Basij forces are part of the armed forces of the Iranian regime.”
The Basij is a paramilitary force that was founded in 1979 and is affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
Israeli Channel 14 had previously quoted sources as saying that “10 other leaders in the Basij forces, including his deputy,” were killed along with Soleimani.
There was no immediate comment from Iran on the Israeli military's statement.
