The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the elimination of Said Izadi, head of the Palestinian division in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps 'Quds', during a nighttime airstrike on the Iranian city of Qom.
The military reported that Izadi was responsible for 'military coordination between the top command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iranian regime, as well as key figures of the terrorist organization Hamas', facilitated the increase of financial support for Hamas by Iran for terrorist activities against Israel, and maintained direct contacts with Palestinian terrorist organizations both in Gaza and the West Bank. He was also 'one of the architects' of the Hamas attack on October 7 'and one of the few who knew about it before it was carried out', stated the IDF.
'Izadi was eliminated in a safe house in the center of Iran after a lengthy intelligence operation', the statement noted.
The military department reported that during the nighttime attack, a senior IRGC representative, Behnam Shahriari, who headed the Quds Force unit 190 responsible for the covert supply of weapons to Iranian proxy groups, particularly Hezbollah, was also killed.
Israel had been attempting to kill Shahriari since 2009. The military claims that his killing is 'a serious blow to the ability of terrorist organizations surrounding the State of Israel to rearm after they suffered heavy losses at the hands of the IDF during the war'.
The Israeli Air Force conducted massive strikes overnight on dozens of targets in Iran, including a nuclear facility in Isfahan and four missile launchers prepared for launch, the military department reports. About 50 Israeli Air Force fighters participated in the strikes, dropping 150 munitions.
Meanwhile, after meeting with European leaders in Geneva, Iran's Foreign Minister stated that Tehran doubts Washington's sincerity in seeking a diplomatic resolution to the conflict with Israel.
In an interview with NBC News, Abbas Araghchi expressed suspicion that the US used previous negotiations with the Islamic Republic merely as 'cover' for Israel's offensive. 'Perhaps they had such a plan, and they just needed negotiations to cover it,' Araghchi says. 'We don't know how we can trust them anymore. What they did was essentially a betrayal of diplomacy'.
He reiterated Tehran's position of being unwilling to continue negotiations 'while aggression continues'. And confirms Iran's refusal to cease uranium enrichment, stating that he 'has told American envoy Steve Witkoff several times that zero enrichment is impossible'.
Photo: Reuters