General Habibollah Sayyari appointed as new commander of Iranian armed forces

TEHRAN: Iran has announced the new head of the armed forces and the head of the Revolutionary Guards, after its military leadership died in Israeli attacks on Friday.

According to Iranian media, the Iranian Supreme Leader has temporarily appointed General Habibollah Sayyari as the new commander of the Iranian armed forces.

According to the report, on the orders of the Supreme Leader, General Ahmad Vahidi has been appointed as the new commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guards.

Notably,  the head of the Iranian armed forces, General Baqeri, and the head of the Revolutionary Guards, Major General Hossein Salami, were martyred in an Israeli attack this morning.

Earlier,Israel carried out strikes on Iran on Friday, targeting its nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders at the start of what it warned would be a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon.

Iranian media and witnesses reported explosions including at the country’s main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, while Israel declared a state of emergency in anticipation of retaliatory missile and drone strikes.

Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards corps said its top commander, Hossein Salami, was killed and state media reported the unit’s headquarters in Tehran had been hit. Several children had been killed in a strike on a residential area in the capital, it said.