Israel says it killed top Iran commander during attacks by both sides

Israel said on Saturday it had killed a veteran Iranian commander during attacks by both sides in the more than week-long air war, while Tehran said it would not negotiate over its nuclear programme while under threat.

Saeed Izadi, who led the Palestine Corps of the Quds Force, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ overseas arm, was killed in a strike on an apartment in the Iranian city of Qom, said Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz.

Calling his killing a “major achievement for Israeli intelligence and the Air Force”, Katz said in a statement that Izadi had financed and armed the Palestinian militant group Hamas ahead of its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which triggered the war in Gaza.

The Revolutionary Guards said five of its members died in attacks on Khorramabad, according to Iranian media. They did not mention Izadi, who was on U.S. and British sanctions lists.

Iranian media said earlier on Saturday that Israel had attacked a building in Qom, with initial reports of a 16-year-old killed and two people injured.

At least 430 people have been killed and 3,500 injured in Iran since Israel began its attacks on June 13, Iranian state-run Nour News said, citing the health ministry.

In Israel, 24 civilians have been killed by Iranian missile attacks, according to local authorities, in the worst conflict between the longtime enemies.

Israel says Iran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons, while Iran says its atomic programme is only for peaceful purposes.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Israel’s aggression, which he said had indications of U.S. involvement, should stop so Iran can “come back to diplomacy”.

“It is obvious that I can’t go to negotiations with the U.S. when our people are under bombardments under the support of the U.S,” he told reporters in Istanbul where he was attending a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
On Friday in Geneva, Araqchi met European foreign ministers who were seeking a path back to diplomacy.

President Donald Trump has said he would take up to two weeks to decide whether the United States should enter the conflict on Israel’s side, enough time “to see whether or not people come to their senses”, he said.

He said on Friday he thought Iran would be able to have a nuclear weapon “within a matter of weeks, or certainly within a matter of months”, adding: “We can’t let that happen.”

Iran’s Fars news agency said Israel had targeted the Isfahan nuclear facility, one of the nation’s biggest, but there was no leakage of hazardous materials. Israel said it had launched a wave of attacks against missile storage and launch infrastructure sites.

REUTERS