Two senior Iranian leaders — including one of the country’s top spies and the head of its undercover forces — were killed in overnight airstrikes on the capital, Tehran, state media and Israel’s defense minister said Monday.
Maj. Gen. Majid Khademi, head of intelligence for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was assassinated early Monday, as Israel and the United States carried out a wave of strikes on the regime, killing more than 25 people.
“Khademi wasn’t just any figure; he was effectively No. 2 within the IRGC, one of the few senior commanders who managed to survive multiple waves of Israeli and American targeting over the past year — until now,” an Israeli official told Fox News.
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a building in Beirut’s southern suburbs, on April 5, 2026. AFP via Getty Images
Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 5, 2026. AP“He kept moving, relocating, but ultimately, he was hunted down and eliminated. He oversaw an intelligence apparatus that repeatedly failed to detect or prevent major Israeli and US operations, including a series of strategic surprises that exposed deep vulnerabilities inside Iran’s security system,” the official added.
Khademi was “deeply involved in attempts to penetrate US systems, including efforts to breach the Pentagon,” the official said.
“His removal marks a significant blow to Iran’s intelligence leadership at a time when the regime is already under sustained pressure,” they added.
A commercial plane is preparing to land at Beirut airport as smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on April 5, 2026. AP
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted an area in Beirut’s southern suburbs, on April 5, 2026. AFP via Getty ImagesAlso killed was Ashgar Bakeri, leader of the Revolutionary Guard’s undercover unit in its expeditionary Quds Force, the Israel Defense Forces said.
“Bagheri was directly involved in recruiting agents across the Middle East and orchestrating attacks against American targets in Iraq and Syria — including operations that led to US casualties,” the official said.
The elimination of two high-profile targets by Israel is the latest in a series of attacks aimed at wiping out the Iranian military and political leadership.
On March 16, Ali Larijani, head of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, was killed in an Israeli airstrike, just days after he issued a warning to President Trump.
Larijani had told Trump he could be “eliminated” if the US-Israeli bombings of Iran didn’t cease, a week before he was wiped out.
The 67-year-old had been acting as Iran’s de facto leader since the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Feb. 28 in the early hours of Operation Epic Fury.
