As the head of the secretive Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami, was one of the most powerful men in Iran, overseeing its most potent military arm and reporting directly to its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

On Friday he was killed in Israel’s Rising Lion strikes that have targeted Iran’s nuclear program and senior military leaders in an attack that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said will last many days.

Iranian state media reported Salami had been killed by a strike on the IRGC’s headquarters in the capital Tehran. His death, along with other ranking members of Iran’s military, could hamper Iran’s response to the attack, analysts say.

“Without a doubt, Major General Salami was one of the most distinguished commanders of the Islamic Revolution — present on all fronts of scientific, cultural, security, and military jihad,” the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement on Friday.

“In all arenas, he stood at the frontlines with a spirit of sincerity, wisdom, and devotion to the Supreme Leader, defending the ideals of the Revolution and the Iranian people,” the statement added.

Born in 1960, according to a US sanctions docket, Salami headed the secretive IRGC since 2019.

The position saw him helming one of the most powerful tools wielded by the Iranian state, which has been instrumental in crushing dissent at home and projecting Iran’s power abroad.

The IRGC boasts its own intelligence service, cyber operations unit, navy, and air force and analysts estimate it has up to 200,000 troops under its command. It also oversees Iran’s ballistic missile development, which Salami pushed to develop during his tenure.

In 2019 he said for the IRGC, ballistic missiles were “a way to end the story of American aircraft carriers.”

Analysts say the IRGC funds and supports a vast network of militias across the region which it uses to strike at US and other military personnel across the Middle East.

The IRGC is also believed to provide materials and support to Yemen’s Houthis, enabling the group to strike international shipping in the Red Sea and launch missiles and drones at Israel.

Salami was at the helm of the IRGC when Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel in April and October last year, in the first direct strikes by Iran on Israeli territory.

In footage released by Iranian state media in January, Salami was seen inspecting what the media said was an underground military facility that had played a role in those attacks.

Wearing a green military uniform and short beard, Salami took the salute of soldiers in the cavernous underground complex and walked over the United States and Israel flags on the ground.

The site was now manufacturing “new special missiles,” semi-official Iranian media outlet Mehr News reported at the time.

In its statement confirming Salami’s death the IRGC said its command structure and other branches of the military were “fully prepared to deliver a decisive and harsh response.”

‘Do not come to the streets’

Salami was head when IRGC shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet shortly after it took off from Tehran’s international airport, killing all 176 people on board.

An unnamed IRGC commander of the Tor M1 surface-to-air missile defense system that shot down the plane was sentenced to 13 years in prison, according to Iran’s Mehr news outlet.

Salami apologized for unintentionally shooting down the Ukrainian plane and asked for forgiveness.

The IRGC is not only Iran’s most powerful military institution, it holds deep influence over domestic politics and the economy, with interests extending to and beyond the construction, telecommunications, auto and energy industries.

In 2022, amid weeks-long mass protests following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died after being detained by “morality police” allegedly for not abiding by the country’s conservative dress code, Salami warned Iran’s youth to stop demonstrating.

“Today is the last day of the riots. Do not come to the streets again. What do you want from this nation?” Salami said.

Just yesterday at Ahmedabad airport, Sangeeta Gauswami clung tightly to her only child, her heart swelling with pride as she saw off her 19-year-old son from their home in the western Indian state of Gujarat, to begin a new chapter at university in London.

Now, less than 24 hours later, she sits frozen in shock and grief, in the same clothes she wore for that farewell – her world upended by a devastating crash.

Her son, Sanket, was among the 242 people aboard Air India flight AI171, which plunged from the sky just seconds after take-off – leaving only one survivor, and hundreds of shattered families.

The Boeing Dreamliner crashed into a medical college hostel, killing passengers, crew and people on the ground, bringing the death toll to at least 290 – one of India’s deadliest plane crashes in decades.

For hours, Gauswami clung to the faintest hope that Sanket had somehow made it out alive. But by Thursday night, hope had given way to heartbreak as she faced the unimaginable: offering her DNA to help identify her only child among the dead.

“We have had no news,” she chokes out, sat with her sister, who is also crying. “We keep asking but no one will tell us.”

DNA samples have been collected from more than 190 relatives at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital and are being verified against retrieved bodies from the crash site. It’s an agonizing process that could take up to 72 hours, according to state official Harshit Gosavi, who is overseeing the operation.

Grief fills the hospital hallways as families grapple with the loss of loved ones. In one corner, an elderly woman’s cries pierce the quiet sobs of others.

Friday’s sorrow is a stark contrast with the chaos of a day earlier, when relatives rushed to the hospital in the hope of finding their loved ones alive.

Manisha Thapa’s family sits shattered after rushing from their home in the eastern city of Patna on the first flight they could find after learning of the plane crash – knowing very well that the 27-year-old was among the cabin crew on the flight.

“I had spoken to her one day ago,” her mother says, voice trembling as she wipes away tears with a tissue offered by her daughter’s friend.

“We speak daily. She had called to let me know we won’t be able to talk because she would be on a long flight.”

Manisha’s father hasn’t stopped weeping since he gave his DNA sample Friday morning.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Ahmedabad Friday, inspecting the crash site and meeting the sole survivor, British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh.

Ramesh’s story is being hailed as nothing short of a miracle. Video of him walking to help crash victims with a bloodstained shirt, and lying in hospital with a few cuts and bruises, are circulating widely on social media.

“At first, I thought I was going to die… I realized I was still alive and saw an opening near my seat. I managed to unbuckle myself. I used my leg to push through the opening and crawled out,” he told Indian state broadcaster DD News.

“Everyone around me was either dead or dying. I still don’t understand how I’m alive.”

While the authorities’ immediate focus is on confirming the number of casualties and providing support to the victims’ families, attention will soon turn to what caused the crash.

The US National Transportation Safety Board said it will lead a team that is heading to India to assist local authorities’ probe into the crash. The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch has also formally offered its assistance to Indian authorities, following the crash.

The canonization of Carlo Acutis, the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint, will take place on September 7, Pope Leo XIV has announced.

Acutis, an Italian teenager who died from leukemia in 2006, will be declared a saint by Leo at a ceremony in St. Peter’s Square expected to be attended by thousands of young people.

Acutis was just 15 when he died, but during his short life he used his computing skills to spread awareness of the Catholic faith by setting up a website that documented reports of miracles.

The Vatican said on Friday that following a meeting with cardinals Pope Leo will canonize Acutis in September, along with another youthful saint, Pier Giorgio Frassatti, who died in 1925 at age 24. Acutis’ canonization had been scheduled for April 27 but was postponed after the death of Pope Francis.

The September 7 ceremony will be the first canonization presided over by Pope Leo, the first American pontiff.

Acutis, nicknamed God’s influencer, has developed a strong following among young Catholics and beyond. The British-born Italian teenager, who loved video-gaming, is often depicted wearing jeans and trainers, making him a relatable figure to a new generation of Catholics.

His canonization also comes as recent surveys in the United Kingdom and United States show a rise in interest in Catholicism among Generation Z.

The church’s sainthood process normally requires that candidates have two miracles attributed to them, with each reported supernatural occurrence requiring in-depth examination. In May, a second miracle attributed to Acutis was recognized by Pope Francis, a decision that paved the way for the teen to be declared a saint.

Acutis was beatified (declared “blessed”) in 2020 after his first miracle, when he reportedly healed a Brazilian boy with a birth defect that left him unable to eat normally. The boy was reportedly healed after his mother said she prayed to Acutis to intercede and help heal her son.

The second miracle attributed to Acutis relates to the reported healing of a girl from Costa Rica who had suffered a head trauma after falling from her bicycle in Florence, Italy, where she was studying. Her mother said she prayed for her daughter’s recovery at the tomb of Acutis in Assisi.

In the face of Israel’s far-reaching strikes Friday, it’s not clear that Iran – its longtime foe – has the capacity to muster the furious response that might be expected.

Israel has once again demonstrated it is the pre-eminent military and intelligence power in the Middle East, heedless to civilian casualties and the diplomatic impact of its actions on its allies.

As with their remarkable operation to decapitate their northern opponent – the Iranian proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah – the overnight operation has the hallmarks of months or even years of preparation. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may have been faced with using this capability now, or losing it, as diplomacy kicked in during a sixth round of nuclear talks scheduled for this weekend between the United States and Iran in Oman.

Iran is now left counting its far-reaching wounds. Images from across Tehran show apartment blocks hit, it seems, in specific rooms – suggesting the pinpoint targeting of individuals, likely through tracking cellphones. Iran has lost its top three active-duty commanders, as well as a leading voice in nuclear talks, overnight, but as the dust clears it may emerge more have been hit, and the survivors will likely be concerned they, too, could still be targeted.

This will slow and complicate any Iranian response. As will the damage the Iranians continue to sustain. A raid by Israel in October took out a large tranche of Iran’s air defenses. Israel’s military said Friday that it had destroyed dozens of radars and surface-to-air missile launchers in strikes by fighter jets on aerial defense arrays in western Iran. The Iranian atomic energy agency confirmed that the nuclear enrichment facility at Natanz had also been damaged, but it’s not yet clear to what extent.

In the days ahead, Israel’s superior intelligence apparatus will search for targets of opportunity – commanders and equipment changing location, or the movement of materiel to facilitate a response – and continue to strike.

Such a wide-ranging assault was possible only because Hezbollah – Iran’s second-strike capability if their nuclear apparatus was hit – had been dismantled over a ruthless but effective months-long campaign last summer. This is beginning to look like a months-long Israeli plan to remove a regional threat.

The risks remain high. Iran could now try to race for the nuclear bomb. But its faltering defenses and clear, humiliating infiltration by Israel’s intelligence, make that a long shot. Rushing to build a nuclear weapon is no simple task, especially under fire, with your key leadership at risk of pinpoint strikes. Netanyahu may have calculated that the risk of an Iranian nuclear breakout was depleted, and manageable with yet more military might.

There is another victim of the overnight barrage: the Trump administration’s standing as a geopolitical power.

There may be suggestions from Trump advocates in the hours ahead that the Israeli assault was part of a wider masterplan to weaken Iran ahead of more diplomacy. But, in reality, a simpler truth is revealed: Israel had no trust in the United States to implement a deal with Iran that would remove its nuclear ambitions.

Despite public pleading by US President Donald Trump for it to hold off, Israel went ahead with the most significant attack on Iran since its war with Iraq in the 1980s. Israel neither cared for or feared Trump’s response, and is apparently prepared to risk fighting on without US support.

That is perhaps another indictment of Iran’s ability to respond now. Israel is less bothered by what it can do. Israel’s operation against Hezbollah provides reason for it to be confident (but also should stir anxieties about hubris and overreach). Israel has likely hit the vast majority of its key targets already, to maximize the advantage of surprise, and the extent of that damage will take days to be revealed.

What of proliferation now? There is a lot that we do not know about Iran’s nuclear program. Israel may have known a lot more. But we are now in a binary moment where the strikes on the Natanz facility may either herald its end, or its race to completion – in the form of a nuclear weapon. Iran has always insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, but the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog on Thursday declared it in breach of its non-proliferation obligations, prompting Tehran to promise escalatory action.

In the moment of its greatest weakness, the Islamic Republic will struggle to project the regional swagger it has maintained for decades. It may feel it is unable to grasp diplomacy with the US as its way out, without looking even weaker. It appears unable to hit Israel back proportionately, so may look to strike asymmetrically, if possible.

In the immediate confusion, one basic fact is clear: Israel is acting in the Middle East now unimpeded by allies, unafraid of wider risks, and – at times brutally – seeking to alter regional dynamics for decades to come.

Shortly before sunrise in Iran on Friday, Israel launched the first strikes of its operation against the regime’s nuclear program.

That operation, called “Rising Lion,” had two prongs: Heavy airstrikes against at least one of Iran’s enrichment sites, and more targeted strikes in Tehran to decapitate the regime’s military leadership. It aimed to halt what Israel said was Tehran’s rapid progress in developing nuclear weapons.

Israel’s attack came after years of threats and days of heightened speculation – but without the United States’ blessing. The Trump administration stressed that Israel acted unilaterally and that Washington was “not involved.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation would continue “for as many days as it takes” to eliminate Iran’s nuclear threat. Tehran, which insists its nuclear program is peaceful, says it has “no option but to respond.”

Here’s what you need to know.

Where and when did Israel strike?

Shortly after explosions rocked Tehran, Israel also struck elsewhere in the country. Israel’s military said it used jets to strike “dozens of military targets, including nuclear targets in different areas of Iran.”

An explosion was reported at Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz, about 250 kilometers (150 miles) south of Tehran.

The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), confirmed that Natanz had been hit, but said it had not observed an increase in radiation levels in the area.

Rafael Grossi, the head of the IAEA, said other nuclear facilities in Iran – Isfahan, Bushehr and Fordow – were not impacted. The Fordow site is buried under a mountain, and is considered a much harder target for Israel.

What did Israel say?

In a televised address, Netanyahu said Israel had taken action to “roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival,” and said it would continue its operation for as long as it takes “to remove these threats.”

Netanyahu claimed that Iran had in recent years produced enough highly enriched uranium for nine nuclear weapons.

“Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time. It could be a year, it could be within a few months,” he said. “This is a clear and present danger to Israel’s survival.”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also said it had destroyed Iran’s ballistic missile launch sites and stockpiles.

Who did Israel kill?

Several of the most important men in Iran’s military and its nuclear program were killed in Israel’s strikes.

Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, head of the secretive Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was the highest-profile of those killed.

Israel also said it killed Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces; Ali Shamkhani, a close aide to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei; and Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC’s air force.

How might Iran hit back?

Iran’s retaliation has already begun. The IDF said Tehran has fired more than 100 drones toward Israel and that Israeli defenses were working to intercept the drones.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian urged the Iranian people to remain unified and trust Iran’s leadership.

“The nation needs unity… more than ever,” he added.

After a series of lethal and embarrassing Israeli blows against the Iranian regime, it is not clear how Tehran might attempt to exact retribution.

Following previous Israeli attacks against Iran and its proxies in the region, Tehran fired back with huge salvos of ballistic missiles.

The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank in Washington DC, said this time it was “possible that Israel somehow disrupted Iran’s response by targeting Iran’s ballistic missile launch sites and stockpiles.”

How has the US responded?

The Trump administration – which has been pursuing a diplomatic path with Iran in recent weeks – sought to distance itself from Israel’s attack.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Israel’s actions were “unilateral.” Although Israel notified the US ahead of its strikes, Rubio said the US was “not involved” in the attack.

“Our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,” he added. Earlier this week, the US had made efforts to arrange the departure of non-essential personnel from various countries in the Middle East, leading to speculation that an Israeli attack on Iran could be imminent.

US President Donald Trump urged Iran to agree to a new nuclear deal “before there is nothing left,” suggesting that follow-up Israeli attacks on the country would be “even more brutal.”

Trump said he had given Iran “chance after chance” to make a deal. “JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” he wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform.

What happened to the last Iran nuclear deal?

Under a 2015 nuclear deal struck by former US President Barack Obama, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran agreed to drastically limit its number of centrifuges and cap uranium enrichment at levels far below those required to make weapons, in exchange for sanctions relief.

But during his first term as president in 2018, Trump withdrew from the JCPOA, saying the “rotten structure” of the agreement was not enough to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb. He ramped up sanctions on Iran and threatened to sanction any country that helped the regime to obtain nuclear weapons.

In his second term, Trump has revived efforts to strike a new nuclear deal with Iran. Just hours before Israel’s strikes, the president cautioned Israel against launching an attack while US-Iran talks are ongoing.

“As long as I think there is an agreement, I don’t want them going in because that would blow it. Might help it, actually, but also could blow it,” Trump said.