Crescent International
The Islamic Republic of Iran has moved quickly to replace the top commanders martyred in zionist Israel’s criminal attack in the early hours of Friday June 13 (local time).
The most senior commanders martyred are Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Bagheri, and commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami.
Commander of the IRGC’s aerospace force, Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, Commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force’s Air Defense General Davood Sheikhian, and the Deputy for Operations Affairs of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Brigadier General Mehdi Rabbani, along with his wife and children were also martyred.
Major General Gholam Ali Rashid, commander of the central headquarters of the Iranian Armed Forces, was also martyred in one of the attacks.
The Rahbar, Imam Seyyed Ali Khamenei appointed Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi as the new Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces to succeed the late Major General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri.
General Mousavi had previously served as Commander of Iran’s Army.
Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC to succeed the martyred Major General Hossein Salami.
General Pakpour had previously served as Commander of the IRGC Ground Forces.
The other senior appointment was that of Brigadier General Ali Shadmani as the new head of Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters.
He was elevated to the rank of major general and replaced Major General Gholam Ali Rashid, who was also martyred in the Israeli criminal strikes.
Among the nuclear scientists martyred by the zionist war criminals are: Mohammad-Mehdi Tehranchi and Fereydoon Abbasi.
They were martyred in separate attacks when their homes were hit.
Abdolhamid Minouchehr, Ahmadreza Zolfaghari, Seyyed Amirhossein Feqhi and Motalebizadeh were named as other nuclear scientists martyred in the attacks.
A number of civilians were also martyred when the zionists struck residential buildings in Tehran.
Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported that 78 civilians have been martyred in Tehran with another 329 injured so far.
These constitute war crimes but the zionists are not constrained by legalities.
The very implantation of the zionist entity on the land of the Palestinian people is illegal.
While many countries in the Global South have condemned zionist aggression, the Europeans are urging “restraint” and calling on Iran to “not retaliate”.
Is there any better way to describe hypocrisy?
As the zionist war criminals await Iran’s retaliatory strikes, fear has gripped the squatters in the illegitimate entity.
The indicted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly fled Tel Aviv and is hiding in an underground bunker in an undisclosed location.
A state of emergency has been declared in Israel and people have been ordered to hide in underground shelters.
For how long?
We must also consider what the zionists’ aim was in assassinating Iranian military leaders and nuclear scientists.
The attack on military leaders and the IRGC and army headquarters was aimed at decapitating the command and control centres of Iran.
Has Israel succeeded in this criminal act?
While Iran has lost several top commanders, their immediate replacement by other veteran commanders indicates the depth of talent in the Islamic Republic.
We will get an accurate assessment of the situation with Iran’s retaliatory strikes.
If they are severe and prolonged—and there is no reason to believe they will not be—then it would indicate that the zionists have failed in their decapacitation objective.
Informed observers in Tehran say that Iran’s retaliation will involve multiple strikes, not all carried out from its own territory.
Iran’s military and political leaders have also named America as being complicit in the latest Israeli crimes.
American officials—Donald Trump and Marco Rubio—have issued statements saying they were “not involved” although Israel had informed them.
It is virtually impossible to separate Israel from the US.
It is quite likely that Iran will carry out strikes against US military bases in the region as well.
Other targets hit by the zionist war criminals included nuclear facilities at Natanz, Khorramabad, Khondab, and several other locations.
Iranian officials have notified the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that there has been no radiation leak from Natanz.
This would indicate that Iran’s centrifuges are buried deep underground and Israeli strikes have not reached them.
Attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities is the other part of the US-Israeli plan: to incapacitate its ability to enrich uranium.
This is what both have been publicly demanding in recent weeks amid intensified rhetoric.
The zionist attack on Natanz means that the sixth round of talks scheduled for June 15 in Oman may not take place.
This is also the objective of the zionists: to sabotage the talks between Iran and the US, even though their chances of success were considered low.
What is certain is that the latest zionist attacks have destabilized the entire region and escalated the risk of a regional war to a dangerous level.
Netanyahu may gain from such escalation politically but he may have signed the death warrant of the zionist entity.
