Senior cleric issues jihad fatwa as Iranian leadership killed in airstrikes
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Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported that senior religious authority Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi issued a fatwa declaring jihad against the United States and ‘Israel’, marking a sharp escalation in rhetoric amid intensifying military confrontation.
The announcement came as Iranian state television confirmed the deaths of several of the country’s top military and political leaders in an airstrike that targeted a meeting of the Supreme Defense Council. The strike was part of US and ‘Israeli’ attacks on sites inside Iran on Saturday.
According to state media, those killed include Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Commander Major General Mohammad Pakpour, senior adviser to the Supreme Leader and Defense Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani, and Defense Minister Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh.
Read more: US, 'Israel' launch full-scale attack against Iran
State television also reported the deaths of additional senior commanders from the armed forces and the Revolutionary Guards, though it did not provide a confirmed total. The targeted meeting reportedly included high-ranking officials discussing recent military developments.
The developments follow Tehran’s early morning acknowledgment of the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an earlier strike on sensitive sites across the country, in what officials described as an unprecedented escalation since the start of the current military confrontation.
Iranian authorities labeled the attack a “direct assault on national sovereignty” and vowed retaliation. Security forces imposed tightened measures in Tehran and several major cities, while the armed forces were placed on high alert.
The killing of multiple senior leaders at once represents an extraordinary shift in the conflict, potentially reshaping Iran’s military leadership structure as regional and international actors closely monitor the unfolding situation.
