Who was the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Chief, killed in Israeli strikes?

Hossein Salami, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Corps of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), was killed at Israel’s strikes at the beginning of Friday, the oldest Iranian leader who died in the attacks.

Salami, who was 65 years old, was known for taking a firm position against Iranian rivals including Israel and the US. Only last month did he warn that Tehran would “open the gates of hell” if attacked by any country.

Israel Started WideScale Strikes vs IranSaying that it is aimed at nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders, although US President Donald Trump warns his ally against talks on a potential nuclear deal.

Tehran warned that Israel and the United States – which denies to participate – would pay a “heavy price” for attacks, causing fears that it would lead to an already fragile region in a full -scale war.

Israel’s strikes were also killed by Mohammed Bageri, head of the country’s armed forces headquarters, Golamali Rashid, Deputy Commander of Iranian Armed Forces and several nuclear scientists.

Just a day before the strikes, Salami had said that Iran was “fully ready for any scenarios, situations and circumstances.”

“The enemy thinks he can fight Iran in the same way he fights with defenseless Palestinians who are under the siege of the Israeli siege,” he said. “We have been tested by the war and are experiencing.”

Salami first joined the revolutionary security – a powerful branch of Iranian armed forces – in 1980. During Iran-Irak War And he became a deputy commander in 2009, then a decade of a decade later.

Since the 2000s, he has been sanctioned by the UN and US Security Council for his participation in Iran’s nuclear and military programs.

Salami boasted of Iran’s military capabilities, at one point he declared that the country was “on the verge of becoming a world force.”

He had welcomed the prospect of military conflict with Israel and the United States. After Israeli strike against Iranian goals in Syria in 2019, Salami promised to “delete the Zionists regime” from the political map.

After another strike last April at the Iranian Embassy in Syria, which killed seven members of the revolutionary security, including two generals, Salami issued a similar warning: “Our brave men will punish the Zionist regime.”

Iran and Israel were allies until a 1979 revolution in Iran, which brought a regime that used Israel’s opposition as a key part of its ideology.

The Iranian regime today does not recognize Israel’s right to exist. The country’s supreme leader Ayatola Ali Hamenei called Israel “Rakov tumor”, which “will undoubtedly be uprooted and destroyed.”

Israel says Tehran’s rhetoric makes Iran an existential threat. Israel and its allies also criticize the accumulation of Iranian proxy forces in the region, including the Lebanese Shiite belligerent group of Hezbollah, who swear to the destruction of Israel.

Salami and other senior officers of the revolutionary security routinely advise Iran’s supreme leader.

Iranian clerical leader created The Corps of the Islamic Revolution 40 years ago to defend the country’s Islamic system and to provide a counterweight to the regular armed forces that they do not trust.

With more than 190,000 active staff and praise with their own forces, Navy and Air Forces, the Revolutionary Guards are one of the most powerful -and the most terrible military and political groups in the country.

While Iran’s army guarded the country’s territory, the revolutionary security was created to protect the regime itself.

As the group reports directly to the Supreme Leader, his authority is not easily checked by other institutions.

He leads Iran’s strategic weapons and controls the paramilitary forces for Basij resistance, which is often used to suppress home disagreement.

Revolutionary security is also believed to control about one -third of Iran’s economy through a series of subsidiaries and Trusts. It also owns billions of dollars in construction and engineering contracts.

Else places in the Middle East, the group influences by providing money, weapons, technologies, training and advice to allied governments.

Some of the most elite members of the Revolutionary Guard manage their shady operation abroad, The Quds Force, which has connections with armed groups in the region, including Afghanistan, Iraq, The Palestinian territoriesAnd Yemen.

Former officials of the revolutionary guards continue to occupy influential positions in the government, parliament and other political bodies. These include former President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and former parliament chairman Ali Lariani.

Additional reporting from Koch Eve and Rafi Berg