TEL AVIV, June 17. /TASS/. The Israeli army eliminated Major General Ali Shadmani, the head of the Khatam-al Anbiya (Air Defense Force) Central Headquarters, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) press service reported.
"The IDF has eliminated Iran’s War-Time Chief of Staff, the regime’s top military commander. Following precise intelligence received by the IDF Intelligence Directorate and a sudden opportunity overnight (on Tuesday), the Israeli Air Force struck a staffed command center in the heart of Tehran and eliminated Ali Shadmani, the War-Time Chief of Staff, the most senior military commander, and the closest figure to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei," the statement said.
According to the press service, Shadmani "served as War-Time Chief of Staff and Commander of the Emergency Command of the Iranian Armed Forces," as well as "commanded both the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Iranian army." "The emergency command center ‘Khatam al-Anbiya,’ under his command, was responsible for managing combat operations and approving Iran’s firepower plans. In his various roles, he directly influenced Iran’s operational plans targeting the State of Israel," the army recalled.
"At the start of the operation, he was appointed to command the Iranian Armed Forces after his predecessor, Alaa Ali Rashid, was eliminated in the [Israeli] opening strike of Operation Rising Lion," the statement said. "Prior to his predecessor’s elimination, Shadmani served as Deputy Commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya emergency command center and as Head of the Operations Directorate in the General Staff forum of the Iranian Armed Forces," the army noted.
"Shadmani's elimination adds to a series of eliminations of Iran’s most senior military leadership and degrades the chain of command of the Iranian armed forces," the IDF press service concluded.