Mousavi named among senior commanders killed as strikes hit Tehran and the Gulf

Mo. Basuony

Published: March 1, 2026 10:34 PM ET

Mousavi named among senior commanders killed as strikes hit Tehran and the Gulf

General Abdol Rahim mousavi was listed among senior Iranian officials killed after US and Israeli strikes entered a second day, a development that Tehran says has prompted intensified retaliatory attacks on Israel and Gulf Arab states.

Mousavi named among senior officials killed

The strikes killed Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior figures, including General Abdol Rahim Mousavi and defence minister General Aziz Nasirzadeh. Also reported killed were Major General Mohammad Pakpour, who had taken over as the Revolutionary Guard's top commander after Israel killed its last commander last June, and Ali Shamkhani, a top security adviser to Khamenei. Iranian media said Khamenei's daughter, a grandchild, a son-in-law and a daughter-in-law were killed as well.

The Israel Defence Forces also claimed it had killed Saleh Asadi, head of the Intelligence Directorate of the Khatam al Anbiya emergency command; Mohammad Shirazi, head of the military bureau; Hossein Jabal Amelian, head of SPND (Organisation of Defensive Innovation and Research); and Reza Mozaffari-Nia, a former head of SPND and former deputy defence minister.

Falcon of strikes: what Israeli and US forces said

US and Israeli strikes continued unabated for a second day, with Israel saying it had hit targets "in the heart of Tehran. " The Israeli military said the extensive strikes of the first day of the joint US-Israeli operation had opened a "path to Tehran, " destroying air defences in western and central Iran, and said many targets remained. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said strikes on the capital would be escalated.

US President Donald Trump said US forces had sunk nine Iranian naval ships and had "largely destroyed" their naval headquarters. US Central Command said it had struck Iranian ballistic missile facilities on Saturday night with B-2 stealth bombers armed with 2, 000-lb bombs, without specifying a location.

Damage seen in Tehran: Leadership House, Narmak and intelligence ministry hit

Verified videos from Tehran showed large plumes of smoke rising above the capital on Saturday. Satellite imagery obtained by Verify showed significant damage to part of the compound of Leadership House, the office of the supreme leader, and black smoke rising above the compound. Footage and imagery were matched to the location of explosions in the area.

Images also show the Narmak neighbourhood, where former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lives, had been hit. Another strike struck the area around the ministry of intelligence. The Israel Defence Forces said its strikes in Tehran targeted locations where senior political and security figures were gathered.

Lyse Doucet said this was "an extraordinary moment Iran has been preparing for, " reflecting the scale of the strikes on the capital.

Strikes and counterstrikes across the Middle East

Iran has intensified retaliatory attacks on Israel and Gulf Arab countries and vowed to step up strikes after the killing of Khamenei and several members of his senior leadership. At least nine people were killed in an attack on an Israeli city. Military and civilian targets were struck across the region, including an American naval base in Bahrain and Dubai's international airport in the United Arab Emirates.

The Israeli military said it destroyed two fighter aircraft in the north-western city of Tabriz. Earlier on Saturday, Iranian state media said at least 153 people were killed at a girls' school in Minab in the south of the country.

Attacks on ports and a cruise ship’s alarm in Abu Dhabi

In Abu Dhabi, tourists on the cruise ship Mein Schiff 4 photographed black clouds of smoke billowing over the harbour. Mein Schiff 4 was docked in Port Zayed, where a large explosion took place midday on Sunday. The defence minister said the explosion was caused by an attack by two Iranian drones that hit a storage facility near the marine base of Al Salam, igniting two containers.

Passengers said they received an emergency message at 4. 30pm telling them to gather in the theatre; crew advised people to stay inside, avoid windows and keep balconies and decks closed. Passengers described panic and fear. The seven-day cruise, called "Magic of the Orient, " was scheduled to stop in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Khasab, Muscat, Doha and Dubai and cost Euro 899 per person in standard class.

A warehouse at a French naval base adjacent to the Emirati base was hit in a drone attack targeting the port of Abu Dhabi. Catherine Vautrin, the French armed forces minister, confirmed a hangar at the naval base was struck and said the damage was purely material and limited, with no injuries, and that vigilance was at a maximum.

Interim council formed and the Assembly of Experts will choose the next leader

A three-person temporary leadership council has been formed to govern in the interim. It includes reformist president Masoud Pezeshkian; Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the hard-line head of the judiciary; and jurist Alireza Arafi, a member of Iran's Guardian Council and head of the Basij. Ali Larijani, Iran's head of security, said the council would be set up on Sunday.

Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Iran's parliamentary speaker, said officials had prepared plans for such moments and that the power and integrity of officials, defensive forces and the people would be beyond imagination after the council was formed. An 88-member panel called the Assembly of Experts — made up of Shiite clerics elected every eight years with candidacies approved by the constitutional watchdog — will pick a new leader as soon as possible under Iranian law.

The next confirmed steps are the setting up of the three-person leadership council on Sunday and the Assembly of Experts' selection of a new supreme leader as soon as possible.