TEHRAN – Major General Hossein Salami, the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), was assassinated in an Israeli strike targeting his apartment building in the early hours of Friday, according to a report by Tasnim News Agency. 

Major General Gholam Ali Rashid, commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters; Fereydoun Abbasi, a nuclear scientist and former nuclear chief of Iran; along with another prominent nuclear scientist named Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, were also targeted in separate attacks on their residences in Tehran, according to an announcement by Iran's national TV. 

Several civilians have lost their lives as well, with footage showing the bodies of a mother and her child trapped under the rubble. Aid workers at the scene said they expect the casualty toll to rise.

Shortly after explosions were heard in Tehran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel had carried out "major strikes" against Iran, vowing that such assaults would continue "as long as necessary."