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Iranian FM: Killing of IRGC No. 2 Will ‘Not Go Unanswered’
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi looks on before a meeting with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in Tehran, Iran, Aug. 26, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
JNS.org – Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that the death of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps deputy commander Brig. Gen. Abbas Nilforoushan in Beirut on Friday “will not go unanswered.”
Nilforoushan was killed by an Israeli airstrike alongside Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Ali Karaki, the Iranian-backed terror group’s highest-ranking military commander.
“There is no doubt that this horrible crime committed by the Zionist regime [Israel] will not go unanswered,” said Araghchi in a statement addressed to IRGC chief Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, according to Reuters.
Earlier on Sunday, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that the “axis of resistance,” which includes Hezbollah, Hamas, Yemen’s Houthi rebels and other terrorist groups across the Middle East, would avenge Nasrallah and Nilforoushan’s deaths.
“We will not hesitate to go to any level in order to help the resistance,” the Iranian politician stated, adding that the United States “is complicit in all of these crimes and … has to accept the repercussions.”
Meanwhile, Iranian Vice President for Strategic Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif told state media on Sunday that the regime would retaliate against the Jewish state at a time of its choosing, according to Reuters.
The New York Times reported on Sunday that Iranian officials are divided on how to respond to the assassination of their close ally, with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei saying Hezbollah, not Tehran, would lead the response to the attack.
“It will be Hezbollah, at the helm of the resistance forces, that will determine the fate of the region,” said Khamenei, adding that “Lebanon will make the aggressor and the evil enemy regretful.”
The Times report, which cited four Iranian officials, including IRGC operatives, said that while some members of the country’s Supreme National Security Council supported a swift attack during a meeting on Friday, others opposed the proposal, believing that this would mean falling into a “trap” set by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Others warned that an attack on the Jewish state could draw a response from the Israel Defense Forces, potentially damaging Iran’s vital infrastructure.
On Saturday, Khamenei was transferred to a location with heightened security, Reuters said over the weekend, citing two regional officials.
Also on Saturday, an Iranian plane heading for Beirut made a U-turn over Iraq on Saturday after the Israel Defense Forces warned air traffic control at Rafic Hariri International Airport not to grant it permission to land, a Lebanese government source told Reuters.
The source said it was not clear what or who was on the Qeshm Fars Air flight. Western intelligence sources have accused Tehran of using the airline to transport weapons to Hezbollah under the cover of civilian aviation.
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Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.
The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.
They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.
Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.
Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.
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Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip
Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.
The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.
Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.
He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.
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Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.
Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.
Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.
Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.
Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.
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