TEHRAN – In an official message, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei vowed “severe punishment” for Israel after the regime assassinated at least four Iranian military officials and nuclear scientists in strikes hitting Tehran in the early hours of Friday.

Major General Hossein Salami, the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC); Major General Gholam Ali Rashid, commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters; Fereydoun Abbasi, nuclear scientist and former nuclear chief of Iran; along with another prominent nuclear scientist named Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, are among the martyrs.

The full text of the leader's message is as follows: 

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful 

Great Nation of Iran! 

In the early hours of this morning, the Zionist regime raised its filthy, blood-stained hand to commit a crime against our beloved country, revealing its malignant nature more than ever before by targeting residential centers. 

This regime must await severe punishment. 

The powerful hand of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will not let it go, Allah willing. 

In the enemy's attacks, several commanders and scientists were martyred. Their successors and colleagues will, God willing, immediately take up their duties. 

With this crime, the Zionist regime has prepared a bitter and painful fate for itself, and it will assuredly receive it.

Seyyed Ali Khamenei

June 13, 2025.