Israel killed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan during a bombardment in Lebanon’s capital of Beirut on Friday, Iranian media reported on Saturday, as Israel pummels Tehran’s Mideast proxy network.
Nilforoushan, 58, served as the deputy commander for operations in the Guard, Iran’s paramilitary. He oversaw the Guard’s ground forces.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have not confirmed the reports of Nilforoushan’s death. Newsweek reached out to the IDF, Iran’s foreign ministry and Lebanon’s U.S. embassy via email for comment mid-morning.
State-owned newspaper Tehran Times said Nilforushan died in the same strike that killed the leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hassan Nasrallah. Israel’s military previously announced that Nasrallah was killed during Friday’s strikes on Beirut. Hezbollah has also confirmed Nasrallah’s death.
Considered by some as the most charismatic leader in a network of proxies that projected Iran’s power across the Middle East, known as the Axis of Resistance, Nasrallah rarely appeared in public but cultivated a cult-like following with his televised speeches.
Nasrallah had led Hezbollah since 1992 and, with help from the IRGC, oversaw the buildup of a huge arsenal of missiles and its forces outstripped the Lebanese army, becoming a state within a state.
Following reports of Nasrallah’s death, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday, “All the Resistance forces in the region stand with and support #Hezbollah.”
Khamenei also called Israeli strikes targeting Lebanon “shortsighted and insane.”
Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have been exchanging heavy fire ever since electronic device attacks on Hezbollah last week killed dozens and injured thousands more. Israel is widely thought to have launched last week’s attack, but it has not taken responsibility for it.
