TEHRAN — Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has said Iran’s forces will not be deterred by the assassinations of commanders, following the killing of Maj. Gen. Majid Khademi,the revolutionary guards’ intelligence chief. Khademi “spent decades in quiet and devoted service in the fields of security, intelligence and defense,” Khamenei said on Monday. “Nonetheless, the unbroken ranks of the combatants and fighters on the path of truth in Islamic Iran, along with the self-sacrificing Armed Forces, form such a towering, deeply rooted front that terrorism and crime cannot even crack their resolve for jihadi ideals,” he said. Khamenei’s comments came in a written statement. He has not been seen in public since he succeeded his father, Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated at the start of the war. Israel has targeted dozens of senior political and military officials in Iran since the conflict began at the end of February. Khademi’s assassination early Monday was confirmed by both Tehran and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, who said he was “directly responsible” for the deaths of Israeli civilians “and one of the three most senior figures” in the revolutionary guards (IRGC). Also on Monday, Israel’s military said its air force had “eliminated” Asghar Bagheri, Commander of the IRGC Quds Force’s Special Operations Unit since 2019. Tehran has not commented on the claim. Meanwhile, the Revolutionary Guards Corps said US President Donald Trump’s threats to blow up the country are “baseless” and vowed to continue fighting. Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for the IRGC’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said “the rude rhetoric, arrogance and baseless threats of the delusional US president, arising from the deadlock he faces and aimed at justifying the repeated defeats of the US military” will not stop Iran from fighting. “If attacks on non-civilian targets are repeated, our retaliatory response will be carried out far more forcefully and on a much wider scale,” he warned in a statement carried by state media on Tuesday. — AgenciesTEHRAN — Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has said Iran’s forces will not be deterred by the assassinations of commanders, following the killing of Maj. Gen. Majid Khademi,the revolutionary guards’ intelligence chief. Khademi “spent decades in quiet and devoted service in the fields of security, intelligence and defense,” Khamenei said on Monday. “Nonetheless, the unbroken ranks of the combatants and fighters on the path of truth in Islamic Iran, along with the self-sacrificing Armed Forces, form such a towering, deeply rooted front that terrorism and crime cannot even crack their resolve for jihadi ideals,” he said. Khamenei’s comments came in a written statement. He has not been seen in public since he succeeded his father, Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated at the start of the war. Israel has targeted dozens of senior political and military officials in Iran since the conflict began at the end of February. Khademi’s assassination early Monday was confirmed by both Tehran and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, who said he was “directly responsible” for the deaths of Israeli civilians “and one of the three most senior figures” in the revolutionary guards (IRGC). Also on Monday, Israel’s military said its air force had “eliminated” Asghar Bagheri, Commander of the IRGC Quds Force’s Special Operations Unit since 2019. Tehran has not commented on the claim. Meanwhile, the Revolutionary Guards Corps said US President Donald Trump’s threats to blow up the country are “baseless” and vowed to continue fighting. Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for the IRGC’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said “the rude rhetoric, arrogance and baseless threats of the delusional US president, arising from the deadlock he faces and aimed at justifying the repeated defeats of the US military” will not stop Iran from fighting. “If attacks on non-civilian targets are repeated, our retaliatory response will be carried out far more forcefully and on a much wider scale,” he warned in a statement carried by state media on Tuesday. — Agencies
