Veteran defense strategist and close adviser to Iran’s supreme leader reportedly targeted days after nuclear talks with Washington.
A senior Iranian security official, Ali Shamkhani, has reportedly been killed in U.S.-Israeli strikes, according to an Israeli military spokesperson. Tehran had not immediately confirmed the claim.
Shamkhani, 70, was serving as secretary of Iran’s Defense Council and was considered a close confidant of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. At the time of the reported strike, he was overseeing sensitive negotiations between Tehran and the United States over Iran’s nuclear program.
Born in Ahvaz in Khuzestan province, Shamkhani briefly lived in the United States before returning to Iran to study engineering. During the Iran-Iraq war, he rose through the ranks of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, later commanding both its naval wing and Iran’s regular navy.
He served as defense minister from 1997 to 2005 and became the first senior Iranian defense official to visit Saudi Arabia after the 1979 revolution. He also led the Supreme National Security Council for nearly a decade, second only to former President Hassan Rouhani in length of service.
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