Iran
Funeral of Iran Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib held in the city of Qom on Saturday (photo: SNN)
Erbil, Kurdistan Region — Several more targeted strikes were reported across Iran overnight as top security officials, including Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) spokesperson Mohammad Ali Naini, were laid to rest on Saturday.
Residents in Tehran and other cities reported that Israeli and US jets and drones carried out multiple airstrikes in the capital and across the country, including strikes on specific buildings that may have targeted officials.
The funerals of Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib, who was killed in northern Tehran on Wednesday morning, and IRGC spokesperson Naini, who was killed on Friday, took place on Saturday, with thousands of mourners taking part.
Iran’s newly appointed Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was absent from Saturday’s Eid al-Fitr prayer marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan for Shiite Muslims. It is customary for the serving supreme leader to lead the prayer in Tehran. Mojtaba Khamenei’s absence has raised further questions about his health condition, as he was reportedly injured on February 28.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue targeting Iranian officials when opportunities arise. Since the start of the war on February 28, Israel has killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and several other officials, including Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
One of the main Telegram channels reporting on strikes across Iran, citing information provided by residents, said that a strike on a building in the northern city of Ramsar may have targeted a senior official involved in Iran’s drone manufacturing programme.
Tehran defied president Trump on friday and executed three protesters detained during January nationwide anti-government protest. At the time President Trump said that his threats against the regime in Tehran forced it to stop the execution of around 800 protesters.
“We will be hitting them awfully hard,” US President Donald Trump said on Friday when asked about his response to the execution of three protesters by Tehran. “I don’t know if you could possibly get hit harder, but these are thugs, animals and horrible people … I am not surprised they executed three young people for protesting.”
While the US and Israel have carried out relentless strikes on Iranian military targets during the 22 days of the war, Iranian state media reported that Tehran had targeted the UK-US joint base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia. The Mehr news agency described the move as a “significant step by the Islamic Republic of Iran in threatening the interests of the United States and its allies beyond the borders of West Asia,” adding that it demonstrated the range of Iran’s missile capabilities. The attack was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Three weeks after the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, his body has yet to be laid to rest. Reports have also emerged of differences among top security officials in the Islamic Republic, which has been rocked by more than three weeks of bombardment.
A Western intelligence official, while not predicting the regime’s imminent fall, said there were signs of friction between the IRGC and the Basij, as well as indications that commanders were reluctant to communicate electronically for fear of revealing their locations, the Washington Post reported on Friday.
There has been no independent confirmation from either the Iranian or Israeli side regarding officials killed in the latest strikes overnight.
Tehran and its proxy forces continue to launch barrages of ballistic missiles and one-way drones at Israel, as well as at oil and gas infrastructure across Gulf countries and US bases in the region. Mojtaba Khamenei said in his message for the occasion of the Iranian new year on Friday that Tehran will continue to fight the aggression launched by Israel and the US.
The IRGC said on Saturday that seventy barrages of ballistic missiles, referred to as “waves,” had been fired at the enemy
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