ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was among a number of Iranian military and nuclear officials that were killed during Israel’s strikes on Iran Friday morning.

Iranian state media confirmed that IRGC commander Hossein Salami was killed in the Israeli strikes that shook Iran in the early hours of Friday.

Among the casualties are also Iranian nuclear scientist and former head of the countries atomic energy organization Fereydoon Abbasi, President of the Islamic Azad University Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, and Commander of Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters Gholam Ali Rashid.

Ali Shamkhani, a senior advisor to Iran's supreme leader, was also "seriously injured," as a result of the Israeli strikes, according to Iran's semi-official Mehr News.

Israel’s strikes on Iran early Friday killed at least four major Iranian military commanders and scientists pic.twitter.com/W7Pco7SGpi

— The New Region (@thenewregion) June 13, 2025

Israel on early Friday announced it has launched an aerial campaign targeting several parts of Iran, including the capital Tehran and the Natanz nuclear research facility in Isfahan.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the country is at a “decisive point” in its history, adding that the aim of the operation is “to strike Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, Iran’s ballistic missile factories, and Iran’s military capabilities.”

“Israel will pay a heavy price, and they should expect the armed forces to take strong action and this response will definitely be given,” the semi-official Tasnim News cited Abolfazl Shekarchi, spokesperson of the Iranian Armed Forces, as saying. The spokesperson claimed that the US has assisted Israel in the attack.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that “Israel took unilateral action against Iran," denying Washington's involvement in the strikes.