Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced in the State media that his top advisor, Ali Shamkhani has succumbed to his injuries following Israeli strikes on the his residence. Pronounced dead after being in a critical state, he was taken to a hospital in Tehran.
As geopolitical tensions tighten between Israel and Iran, the attack of June 13 marks one of the most severe Iran faced since its clash with Iraq in 1980. With Iran’s rapidly advancing nuclear reprisal program, this situation has been garenerd global attention yet again. US President Donald Trump reacted to the deaths of commanders and leaders. He said, “Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table. We will see. There are several people in leadership that will not be coming back.”
Who was Ali Shamkhani?
A senior former navy commander, Ali Shamkhani was one of Iran’s most influential politicians and the top advisor to Iran’s supreme leader. He lost his life sustaining several injuries after the Israeli attack struck his apartment in Tehran. Shamkhani was also the former secretary of the Supreme National Council and overlooked the nuclear talks with the United States. As per the Irani officials, an attack on him gravely impacted the nuclear diplomacy status.
An attack on Iranian polity
Apart from Shamkhani, three other prominent figures in the Iranian polity lost were killed as they were caught in the cross-hairs of the attack. General Hossein Salami and General Gholamali Rashid and Mohammad Mehdi were among the deceased. Each of these personalities were significant leaders, scientists and commanders of the force.
Six of Iran’s nuclear scientists were killed in Israel’s strikes, Iranian state-affiliated Tasnim news agency said Friday. Among the scientists killed were Fereydoun Abbasi, the former head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, a physicist who also served as president of Islamic Azad University, the news agency said.
Iran strikes back
The Revolutionary Guards spokesman vowed to “respond decisively and harshly to the aggression of the Zionist enemy” and deliver a decisive blow to Israel and the United States following Salami’s death.
Over a hundred drones were launched at Israel. A state of emergency has been declared in Israel. The Jordan-Iraq airspace was closed after Israel struck Iran. Drones were intercepted as Hamas warned of a “destabilisation”.