The Israeli military said on Saturday it had killed dozens of members of Iran’s leadership, including the supreme leader, in a sweeping, coordinated attack on Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated, Targeted multiple locations “Senior officials from Iran’s defense establishment gathered” across Tehran.

A senior Israeli security official told Fox News that more than 40 senior Iranian security and regime officials were killed in the attack.

The official added that this was one of the largest “decapitations” of a regime in the history of modern warfare. The official explained that Israeli intelligence successfully penetrated the Iranian security echelon, making the attack possible.

The Israeli military said on Saturday it had killed dozens of members of Iran’s leadership, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a massive U.S.-coordinated attack on Iran. (Iranian Leader’s Press Office/Anadolu, Getty Images)

According to the IDF, those killed included IDF Secretary Ali Shamkhani. iran security council He is also the personal adviser to Iran’s supreme leader.

The Israel Defense Forces said Mohammad Parkpour, who was also killed, had served as commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards since “Operation Lion” and was one of the leaders of the “Destruction of Israel” plan.

Saleh Asadi, Director of Intelligence Bureau of Hatam al-Anbia Emergency Command; Mohammed Shiraz, Director of Military Bureau of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei Since 1989; Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh; Hossein Jabal Amelian, chairman of an organization that advances nuclear, biological and chemical weapons-related projects; and the organization’s former chairman, Reza Mozaffari-Nia, also killed, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

Who will take over Iran if Khamenei falls? Strike would expose power vacuum – and IRGC control

Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh was killed in Saturday’s attack. (Israel Defense Forces)

President Donald Trump also confirmed on Saturday that Khamenei was killed in the attack.

“One of the most evil men in history, Khamenei, is dead,” Trump wrote in a Truth Society post. “This is justice not only for the people of Iran, but for all the great Americans and the people of many countries around the world who were killed or maimed by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty thugs.”

The leaders met at a compound in Tehran on Saturday morning.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Mohammad Pakpour was killed in an airstrike on Saturday. (Israel Defense Forces)

Multiple sources told Fox News that the attack was brought forward due to “targets of opportunity,” which is why the attack occurred during daylight hours in Iran, retaining an element of surprise.

“After careful consideration we have decided to accelerate the timetable,” a source said.

Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to the supreme leader, was reportedly among those killed. (Israel Defense Forces)

“This was a massive, extremely audacious daytime attack,” a senior U.S. defense official told Fox News. “It caught senior leadership off guard, on a Saturday morning during Ramadan and on the Sabbath during the day.”

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“We hit senior leaders right from the start.”

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