The Quds Force is the foreign operations arm of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards.

“Yesterday, the Israeli Air Force… conducted a strike in Tehran and eliminated Asghar Bagheri, Commander of the Quds Force’s Special Operations Unit (840) since 2019,” a military statement said.

It added that Bagheri had in recent years held a series of senior positions within the Quds Force and “was involved in attacks targeting Israeli and American individuals worldwide”.

“Under his command, the unit advanced operations targeting IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldiers on the Syrian-Israel border … and advanced the transfer of weapons from Iran into the State of Israel,” it said.

His assassination joins dozens of other senior Iranian commanders and officials killed by Israel since the beginning of its joint attack with the United States late in February, including Iran’s previous Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, which sparked a regional conflict in the Middle East.