Top advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader killed in Israeli strikes, state media says

Ali Shamkhani, Iran’s erstwhile Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Secretary, was killed successful an Israeli airstrike connected Friday, according to Iranian authorities media reports.

Shamkhani was 1 of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s apical elder advisors and was reportedly taken retired successful his location successful Tehran by an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) airstrike.

The decease of Shamkhani marks different important stroke by the Israelis successful dismantling Tehran's subject leadership.

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Shamkhani served arsenic 1 of Iran's apical subject officials for decades, opening arsenic the commandant of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps successful Ground Forces.

The IRGC is 1 of the country’s astir almighty centers. It was created aft the 1979 Islamic Revolution and has evolved from a paramilitary, home information unit into a transnational unit that has travel to the assistance of Tehran’s allies successful the Middle East, from Syria and Lebanon to Iraq, per the Times of Israel. 

Ali Shamkhani, apical advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, was eliminated successful an airstrike connected Friday, according to Iranian authorities media. (REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl MN/KI)

Lisa Daftari, Iran adept and Foreign Desk Editor-in-Chief, told Fox News Digital the elimination of Shamkhani "signifies a strategical escalation aimed astatine destabilizing Iran's authorities astatine its core."

"This precise onslaught highlights a dual objective—not lone targeting its atomic ambitions but signaling an unequivocal menace to the powerfulness operation itself. Shamkhani's adjacent ties to Khamenei amplify the gravity of the message, casting uncertainty and fearfulness among the governmental elite," said Daftari.

She added, "The calculated quality of this determination underscores an effort to fracture the authorities from within, leaving nary fig immune from vulnerability. This marks a chilling precedent for Iran's leadership."

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Supreme Leader Khamenei entrusted Shamkhani and appointed him arsenic commandant of the Artesh Navy successful 1989, wherever helium helped rebuild Iran's naval capabilities post-Iran-Iraq War, according to the radical United Against Nuclear Iran.

The Artesh Navy was near disorganized and with minimal levels of instrumentality pursuing the war. Most notably, the U.S. Navy made a ample mark, taking retired astir fractional of Iran’s Navy during Operation Praying Mantis successful 1988, according to the Strauss Center.

Iran focused connected naval procurement, gathering up its unit with patrol boats, anti-ship missiles, and accelerated onslaught trade warships.

Shamkhani power reportedly accrued pursuing the decease of Qassem Soleimani successful 2020. (ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Shamkhani sought retired self-sufficiency successful Iran’s military. 

Shamkhani’s rhetoric astatine the clip echoed the Islamic Republic’s accepted messaging implicit the Persian Gulf, rejecting the beingness of overseas warships and declaring "the capableness to instal rocket sites" from the northbound to the southbound of the Gulf, according to a United Against Nuclear Iran illustration of him.

He held the station of curate of defence from August 1997 until August 2005 and led Iran's Supreme National Security Council from 2013 to 2023.

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In a uncommon interview, Shamkhani commented connected the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) pursuing the Trump administration’s withdrawal.

Supreme Leader Khamenei (pictured) entrusted Shamkhani and appointed him arsenic commandant of the Artesh Navy successful 1989. (Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)

When asked if helium was 1 of the radical successful Iran who felt that signing the pact was a mistake, Shamkhani said, "Yes. … I'm conscionable pursuing the viewpoints of my nation, the radical of Iran."

Shamkhani's power reportedly accrued pursuing the decease of Qassem Soleimani successful 2020.

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Following Iran's retaliation for Soleimani’s death, the U.S. sanctioned Shamkhani.

"The United States is targeting elder Iranian officials for their engagement and complicity successful [the] ballistic rocket strikes," said Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin astatine the time. 

Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.