Israel said on Tuesday that it had killed Iran’s wartime chief of staff Maj. Gen. Ali Shamdani, the country’s most senior military leader. IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said in a statement that Shamdani was killed at the regime’s headquarters in Tehran. 

“For the second time in 5 days, the IDF has eliminated Iran’s Wartime Chief of Staff, the regime’s top military commander,” the IDF wrote on X. “Ali Shadmani, Iran’s senior-most military official and Khamenei’s closest military advisor, was killed in an IAF strike in central Tehran, following precise intelligence.”

A massive plume of smoke and fire rise from an oil refinery in southern Tehran following reports that an overnight Israeli strike targeted the site on June 15, 2025. (ATTA KENARE/AFP)

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced on his English-language X account that Shadmani would be taking Rashid’s place after the Iranian military leader was killed in Israel’s original attacks.

“In view of Lt. Gen. Gholamali Rashid’s martyrdom at the hands of the vile Zionist regime, and in light of Major General Ali Shadmani’s meritorious service and valuable experience, I confer the rank of Major Gen. & appoint him Commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya (pbuh) Central HQ,” Khamenei wrote in a post on X.

In this photo released by the Iranian Red Crescent Society rescuers work at the scene of an explosion after an Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 13, 2025. (Iranian Red Crescent Society via AP)

Since the launch of Operation Rising Lion, Israel has taken out several key figures in Iran’s military and nuclear proliferation programs. 

In a statement, Defrin vowed that Israel would “relentlessly pursue” its enemies “through advanced intelligence capabilities, exploiting emerging opportunities, air superiority, and complex operational planning.”