Israel says it killed aide to Iran’s ‘new leader’ in Tehran

Israel’s military said it killed Abolghasem Babaeian in an air strike in Tehran on Saturday, describing him as the head of the military office of Iran’s former supreme leader Ali Khamenei and chief of staff of the Khatam al-Anbiya command.

“The Israeli Air Force, with precise guidance from military intelligence, targeted and eliminated Abolghasem Babaeian in Tehran yesterday, Saturday,” the Israeli military said on its Persian-language X page.

He was responsible for coordinating between Iranian institutions for actions against Israel and activating the regime’s emergency mechanisms, the military said.

It added that Babaeian had been appointed head of the emergency command staff after Ali Shadmani, who previously held the role, was killed during June war.

Iran’s exiled prince Reza Pahlavi praised Iranian women’s role in opposing the Islamic Republic and called them central to the country’s future in a message marking International Women’s Day.

“This year’s March 8 arrives as Iran passes through the most decisive chapter of its contemporary history,” Pahlavi said in a statement posted on X.

“Iranian women, who before the upheaval of 1979 enjoyed many rights and freedoms under the law, lost a large portion of those rights and liberties with the establishment of the Islamic Republic,” he said. “Yet over the past forty-seven years, they have never laid down the banner of the struggle against discrimination and injustice.”

Pahlavi said Iranian women had stood “at the forefront of resistance” against the authorities and had fought alongside men during the recent nationwide protests.

“In the free, democratic, prosperous, and flourishing Iran of tomorrow, all citizens — regardless of gender — will be equal before the law,” he added. “Iranian women, who have been pioneers in the struggle for freedom, will also play a decisive role in the day after liberation.”

President Donald Trump said Iran’s next leader would not “last long” without the approval of the United States.

“He’s going to have to get approval from us,” Trump told ABC News. “If he doesn’t get approval from us he’s not going to last long. We want to make sure that we don’t have to go back every 10 years, when you don’t have a president like me that’s not going to do it.”

“I don’t want people to have to go back in five years and have to do the same thing again, or worse let them have a nuclear weapon,” he added.

The US military issued a safety warning to civilians in Iran on Sunday, urging them to stay home and saying Iranian forces were conducting military operations from heavily populated areas.

“The Iranian regime is using heavily populated civilian areas to conduct military operations, including launching one-way attack drones and ballistic missiles,” US Central Command said in a statement.

The military said Iranian forces were launching drones and ballistic missiles from crowded areas in cities including Dezful, Esfahan and Shiraz.

"US forces strongly urge civilians in Iran to remain indoors. The Iranian regime, by using densely populated civilian areas to conduct military operations, including the launch of one-way attack drones and ballistic missiles knowingly endangers the lives of innocent people," CENTCOM said in another statement posted on its Persian language X page on Sunday.

The Israeli military said it carried out additional waves of strikes in Tehran on Sunday, targeting facilities linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards and security forces.

“We completed additional waves of attacks in Tehran. The Aerospace Headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and 50 ammunition storage shelters were targeted,” the Israeli military said on its Persian-language X page.

“In this framework, the aerospace headquarters of the Iranian regime was targeted. This center was used as the site for receiving, distributing and researching by Iran’s Aerospace Organization,” it added.

The Israeli military said the complex included a control and operations building for the Khayyam satellite, which was launched in August 2022 and was used by Iran's Revolutionary Guards for surveillance activities.

It also said it targeted dozens of other sites including an ammunition storage facility at a law enforcement base, a Basij unit base, law enforcement headquarters and a complex belonging to the ground forces of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.