Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Tuesday confirmed the death of the commander of the affiliated Basij paramilitary force in an US-Israeli strike.

“Commander Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij Organisation, has been martyred,” the Guards said on their Sepah News website, after Israel said it had killed him in an air strike.

Earlier, Israel’s military said it was striking positions of Iran’s Basij paramilitary force around Tehran on Tuesday, after announcing it had killed the volunteer militia’s top commander.

“The air force has attacked, in recent hours, soldiers and positions of the Basij unit that were deployed throughout Tehran,” Israel’s air force posted online along with a video of what it said was a strike in Iran’s capital.

Israel earlier Tuesday announced it had killed Basij commander Gholamreza Soleimani in an air strike, at the same time as it said it had assassinated Tehran’s national security chief Ali Larijani.

The strikes against the Basij are part of Israeli efforts to loosen the control of the authorities and open the way for a popular uprising against the clerical establishment.

In recent days the Israeli military has said it was striking checkpoints set up by the force around Tehran.

The Basij are accused of playing a key role in the bloody crackdown on recent mass protests in Iran in which rights groups say thousands of people were killed.