Overview
- The IDF says it eliminated Sayed Yahya Hamidi, the deputy minister for 'Israel Affairs,' and Jalal Pour Hossein, the espionage chief at Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence, in the operation’s opening phase.
- Israel reports the Air Force also struck the ministry’s headquarters in Tehran and claims additional senior officials were removed in precision, intelligence-led attacks.
- The Iranian Red Crescent reports at least 555 people killed across Iran since U.S.-Israeli strikes began Saturday, and a lawmaker says multiple hospitals suffered severe damage.
- Israel portrays the effort as part of a wider decapitation campaign that it says already felled top figures, including Ali Khamenei, though major outlets have not independently confirmed the most consequential deaths.
- Unverified social media and some Israeli reports claim interim leader Alireza Arafi was killed shortly after taking office, a claim not confirmed by Iranian state media or major international organizations.