ISTANBUL

Ali Shamkhani, Iran’s Defense Council secretary and senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has reportedly been killed in Israeli and US airstrikes on Iran, Iranian media reported Sunday.

Reports said the strikes killed several senior Iranian defense figures.

In addition to Shamkhani, Gen. Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also died in the attack, according to multiple reports.

Shamkhani, 70, had been leading negotiations with the US about Iran’s nuclear program.

Days before the strikes he said, “If the main issue of the negotiations is not making nuclear weapons by Iran, this is in compliance with a religious decree issued by Iran’s leader and the country’s defence doctrine, and an immediate agreement is within reach.”