Diplomatic solution only way to restore security - UK top diplomat

The Head of the Judicial Organization of the Armed Forces of Iran confirmed Nilforoushan’s death on Saturday, saying: "We consider the pursuit of justice for this martyr to be the right of the Islamic Republic of Iran under international legal conventions."

Born in Isfahan in 1966, Nilforoushan began his military activities in the 1980s joining the Basij and later the IRGC, holding various positions including Deputy Commander of the IRGC Ground Forces for Operations.

Iranian media outlet Student News Network (SNN) described Nilforoushan as a “key figure” with extensive battlefield experience who played a crucial role in supporting the “Resistance Axis, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Palestinian resistance groups,” helping to strengthen their capabilities against Israel.

Following the assassination of IRGC General Mohammad Reza Zahedi in an Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus in April, Nilforoushan “assumed command of the Lebanon front,” according to the Tehran-based Fararu website.

Nilforoushan was killed in an Israeli attack on a meeting between Nasrallah, top Hezbollah members, and IRGC commanders. In a statement about Nasrallah's death, Khamenei said that the meeting was focused on designing a military plan to counter the recent wave of Israeli attacks in Lebanon.

'Sanctioned for suppressing protests'

Nilforoushan was sanctioned by the United States in October 2022 in a round of sanctions targeting Iranian officials involved in the crackdown on nationwide protests, which erupted after the death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s mandatory hijab laws.

In a statement, the US Treasury noted that Nilforoushan “played a critical role in arresting protest leaders during previous protests” and described him as an experienced IRGC commander who had also served as a military adviser during the Syrian Civil War.

Amid Iran’s nationwide protests, Nilforoushan took to social media with a message that appeared to blame the US for stoking unrest, saying: "Listen, Mr. Biden, this is not a country that can be overthrown by media operations. To bring down Iran, you would have to pass through a sea of blood, and you do not have the capability to cross it."

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said in a message on Hassan Nasrallah's death the Resistance Front will deal more crushing blows on the "dilapidated and decaying body" of Israel.

Khamenei described Nasrallah as a "wise political leader" who, at the time of his death, was "busy planning to defend the defenseless people of Beirut's southern suburbs and their destroyed homes and beloved ones who have perished."

Iran's Supreme Leader said, "The foundation that Nasrallah established in Lebanon and provided direction to other centers of power will not disappear with his loss but will be strengthened by blood of the Hezbollah chief and other martyrs of the Beirut attack."

He also said that "the evil Zionist regime failed to achieve victory in this incident."

The Israeli Air Force "eliminated" Hassan Khalil Yassin, a senior official within Hezbollah's intelligence array, in a strike in the Dahieh area of Beirut, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Saturday.

"Yassin stood at the head of a department responsible for the identification of civilian and military targets, on the northern border and deep within Israeli territory," the statement added.

"As part of his role, Yassin collaborated intensely with all of Hezbollah's offensive units, was personally involved in the planning of terror attacks that were executed during the war against Israeli civilians and soldiers, and planned additional attacks to be carried out in the coming days," the IDF said.

Elon Musk has praised as "hall-of-famer" a community note added to a tweet posted by the X account of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The account had called Hezbollah the "victor", but a community note provided context that "the entire Hezbollah leadership including Nasrallah has been eliminated" in an Israeli air strike.

This is not the first Khamenei tweet being corrected today. Another post on Khamenei's X account said a few hours ago that "the Zionist criminals need to know that they're far too weak to be able to inflict any significant damage on the solid structure of Hezbollah."

A community note was later added to his post which reminds him: "In fact, the "Zionists" referred to here (Israel) just destroyed the Hezbollah HQ and wiped out its entire leadership."

Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh would have been the first Sunni cabinet member in the history of the Shia-majority Islamic Republic if the hardline-dominated parliament had let him leave.

Iran's Sunnis say they have been systematically blocked in the past forty-five years from holding higher government positions due to their religion.

Hosseinzadeh submitted his resignation to the Parliament on September 25 while Pezeshkian was in New York to attend the UN General Assembly. The resignation was put to vote on the same day. 129 of the 247 lawmakers present at the session, voted against the resignation, and five abstained.

This was the first time the Parliament ever objected to a resignation for joining the government.

In an interview with CNN’s Christine Amanpour Thursday before leaving New York, Mohammad-Javad Zarif, Pezeshkian’s Strategic Affairs Deputy, referred to the appointment of a Sunni, and four women, to the cabinet as one of the biggest achievements of the Pezeshkian administration. However, Zarif did not mention Parliament’s vote.

In a meeting with expatriate Iranians in New York on Thursday Pezeshkian also said the appointment of two Sunni Kurds, one as a deputy and the other as a province governor, was an unprecedented initiative his government had taken but made no reference to the Parliament’s objection.

“The issue surrounding Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh’s role in the cabinet is expected to be resolved upon the President’s return to Tehran, following his remarks to expats in New York, where he emphasized that Hosseinzadeh is viewed as a deputy president,” the conservative Tabnak news website reported Thursday.

Lawmakers opposing the resignation did not raise Hosseinzadeh’s religion during the debate, instead arguing that their decision was aimed at ensuring his constituents wouldn’t lose their representative.

Pezeshkian appointed the reformist Hosseinzadeh who has three times been elected to the Parliament from a predominantly Sunni, Kurdish constituency in West Azarbaijan Province as his Rural Development, Deprived Areas, and Nomads deputy in late August.

Some lawmakers and activists have criticized the Parliament’s decision and even urged Hosseinzadeh to submit another resignation letter or suggested that Pezeshkian appoint another Sunni lawmaker in his place.

In his Friday sermon in Zahedan, capital of the province of Sistan-Baluchestan, Mowlavi Abdolhamid, a leading Sunni cleric, criticized the Parliament’s objection to Hosseinzadeh’s resignation and barring his way to entering Pezeshkian’s cabinet although resignation of other lawmakers to join the cabinet had always been accepted before.

Abdolhamid who wields much influence among the large Sunni, Baluchi population of the province and other Sunni-populated regions has repeatedly criticized the government for discrimination against Sunnis.

Ali-Akbar Ranjbarzadeh, a member of the Parliament’s presiding board, pointed out in an interview with the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) Friday that in similar circumstances three years ago, the Parliament had accepted the resignation of hardliner Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh-Hashemi when Ebrahim Raisi appointed him as his deputy.

“The Parliament was subservient to the administration during Raisi's time. Were you worrying about people’s votes? No! Your problem is something else!” journalist Mohammad-Hassan Najmi protested in a tweet while reminding that not one but three lawmakers were allowed to join Raisi’s cabinet.

“Not to accept [the resignation] of a Sunni person was not decent ... After all, he represented hope to the Sunni population and could bear a very positive message to them,” he said.

The parliament's opposition conveys to the Iranian Sunni community that they will continue to be blocked from higher management positions and impede Pezeshkian from carrying out his campaign promises of creating a “national unity” government, the reformist Ham-Mihan newspaper wrote Thursday.

Reformist lawyer and activist Minoo Khaleghi and some others have argued that based on an interpretation of the Constitution by the Guardian Council in 1981, which has not been annulled in later years, acceptance of a government position by a lawmaker can automatically be considered as resignation and no official resignation is required.