• Chief of General Staff Abdolrahim Mousavi among those targeted
  
  ISTANBUL

Iran’s armed forces said Sunday that four senior military officials were killed in US-Israeli attacks on the country that started a day earlier, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported.

A statement said the officials were targeted while attending a meeting of the Defense Council.

It said those killed in the strikes were Iran's Armed Forces Chief of Staff Abdolrahim Mousavi, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander Mohammad Pakpour, Defense Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani and Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics Aziz Nasirzadeh.

Additional senior figures listed by Iran’s Foundation for the Preservation and Publication of Sacred Defense Works and Values that were killed in recent air raids include Maj. Gen. Mohammad Shirazi, Head of the Office of the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces; Gen. Shahid Saleh Asadi, deputy for intelligence of the general staff of the armed forces; and Maj. Gen. Mohsen Darebaghi, deputy chief of logistics and industrial research for the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces.

The foundation also confirmed the killing of Maj. Gen. Akbar Ebrahimzadeh, Deputy Chief of the Supreme Leader’s Office, Maj. Gen. Gholamreza Rezaeian, head of the Intelligence Organization of the Law Enforcement Command (FARAJA), Maj. Gen. Bahram Hosseini Motlagh, head of Plans and Operations, Armed Forces General Staff; and Maj. Gen. Hassanali Tajik, head of Logistics, Armed Forces General Staff.

Besides the top commanders, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was also killed. A 40-day mourning period has been declared and an interim council named until a successor is chosen.

The US and Israel launched an attack on Iran on Saturday, with Tehran staging retaliatory missile and drone strikes.

*Writing by Seda Sevencan