The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps confirmed on March 20 that its spokesman Brigadier General Ali Mohammad Naeini was killed in a US-Israeli strike in the early hours of the last day of Ramadan, Tasnim reported.
Naeini had been the public face of Iran's military communications throughout the conflict, delivering statements on the IRGC's "True Promise" retaliatory operations since the war began on February 28.
The IRGC said Naeini served for more than four decades, including in propaganda operations during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, and had been the corps' spokesman for the past two years. He was described as a specialist in "soft war" and "cognitive warfare" against Western powers.
His death adds to a rapidly growing list of senior Iranian figures killed since the conflict began, including the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, security chief Ali Larijani, intelligence minister Esmail Khatib, Basij commander Gholamreza Soleimani, defence minister Aziz Nasirzadeh and armed forces chief Abdolrahim Mousavi.
Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said earlier this week that the military had standing authorisation to target any senior Iranian official without individual approval from political leaders.
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