Israel killed the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps intelligence organization in a targeted airstrike early Monday, the latest in a string of precision strikes that have dismantled Iran’s military and security leadership since the conflict began.
Majid Khademi, described as a major general and the “powerful and educated” director of IRGC intelligence, was killed in a strike at dawn on April 6, the IRGC confirmed in a post on Telegram. Iran’s state news agency IRNA also confirmed his death. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced the strike publicly, saying Israel would continue hunting Iranian officials one by one.
“The Revolutionary Guard are shooting at civilians and we are eliminating the leaders of the terrorists,” Katz said.
“Iran’s leaders live with a sense of being targeted. We will continue to hunt them down one by one.”
Khademi had taken the IRGC intelligence post after Israel killed his predecessor, Gen. Mohammad Kazemi, during the 12-day war last June. The appointment put Khademi in control of one of Iran’s most feared internal security organs, one that answers only to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and has been linked to the detention of Western nationals, extraterritorial assassinations, and suppression of domestic dissent.
Katz said Monday’s strikes also inflicted heavy damage on Iran’s steel and petrochemical industries.
“We will continue to crush the Iranian national infrastructure and lead to the erosion and collapse of the terrorist regime, and its capabilities to promote terror and fire at the state of Israel,” he said.
The killing comes as ceasefire negotiations between U.S. officials and Tehran are reportedly in their final stages. Vice President JD Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff held overnight talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi, and an agreement could be announced as soon as Monday, according to Reuters. President Trump has set a Tuesday deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on power plants and bridges.
Images distributed by AP from the scene showed damage at a mosque at Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology campus, which Iranian authorities said was hit in a U.S.-Israeli strike earlier in the day.
The IRGC intelligence organization wields broad powers within Iran, including surveillance of foreign nationals and coordination of covert operations against Tehran’s opponents abroad. Its elimination would represent a significant degradation of Iran’s ability to conduct foreign intelligence and domestic repression.
Khademi is at least the second IRGC intelligence chief killed by Israel since the start of the current conflict.
