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The IDF said Iranian Armed Forces Chief Abdolrahim Mousavi and many top officials were slain in Saturday’s US-Israeli strikes on Tehran, which killed Supreme Leader Khamenei. A veteran army officer and former Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Mousavi rose through the ranks after the Iran–Iraq War.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Sunday (local time) claimed that Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi, the Chief of Staff of the Iranian armed forces, was killed in the strikes launched on Saturday.
Sharing a post on X, IDF wrote, "ELIMINATED: Abdolrahim Mousavi, the Iranian Chief of Staff of the armed forces," adding that the IDF also killed seven members of the top Iranian security leadership in Tehran, along with 40 senior commanders.
Here's all you need to know about Abdolrahim Mousavi
According to a BBC News report, Mousavi, who was born in Qom in 1955, was a veteran of the Islamic Republic's armed forces. He joined the Iranian Army in 1979 and began his training at the Army Officers' College. Mousavi had a PhD in Defense Administration from the National Defense University. During the Iran–Iraq War, he served in artillery units in western Kurdistan and southwestern Khuzestan, taking part in key operations including Valfajr 4 and 9, Beit al-Maqdis 5, Qader, and Nasr. He is regarded as having played a significant role in the conflict and is widely described as a war hero.
After the Iran–Iraq War, Mousavi steadily rose through the ranks of the Iranian Army. In the years that followed, he served as President of Imam Ali Officers’ University, Commander of the Army’s Northeast Headquarters (Nazaja), and Deputy Director of Training and Planning for the Ground Forces.
Between 2005 and 2008, he served as Chief of Staff of the Army. He later became Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army, a position he held until 2016. He then served as Deputy Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces until 2017, when he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Army (Artesh), a role he held for eight years.
Once, during a television interview, Mousavi discussed his personal life and said that his father owned a textile factory, where he first started working at the age of six. Mousavi got married at 23 and has two sons, and revealed that he holds a football refereeing certificate, along with some coaching experience.
At the start of his tenure as army chief, Mousavi declared: “Our goal and hope today is the elimination and destruction of the Zionist regime.” He succeeded Mohammad Baqeri, who was killed in an Israeli strike in June last year.
US-Israel strikes target Iran sites
The United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran and targeted key sites in Tehran after weeks of threats from US President Donald Trump, following Iran's refusal to renounce its atomic programme, claiming that it is not pursuing nuclear weapons. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said, "A short time ago, the US military began major combat operations in Iran. Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime."
In the joint operation by the US and Israel, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was also killed, who was present in his office in the early hours of Saturday, when Israeli forces carried out a strike on his compound in Tehran.
Tensions have now soared in Iran and further in the Middle East region, with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian claiming that Tehran would avenge the death of its supreme leader.
English (US) ·