Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – Supreme Leader
Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi – Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces
Major General Mohammad Pakpour – Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC
Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh – Minister of Defense
Mohammad Shirazi – Head of Supreme Leader’s military office
Ali Larijani – Senior national security chief
Esmaeil Khatib – Minister of Intelligence
Gholamreza Rezaian – Iranian police intelligence commander
Gholamreza Soleimani – Basij paramilitary commander
Saleh Asadi – Head of military intelligence at Khatam‑al Anbiya
Has there been any other war in which one side so quickly killed the leadership of the other side?
Any credible source for this?
1. Western media is not credible because West treats Iran as enemy
2. Iranian media is not credible because they obviously want to hide facts when they're negative
Now my question is, why are you spreading unverifiable information as something credible and building your facts on top of it?
For tens of thousands? No. That’s the upper end of estimates. For the brutality? Yes. Wikipedia is a good start.
Also, please read what I wrote, I meant there is no credible source in this scenario, hence no one should be able to cite anyone's numbers
No, you can’t. One, it exceeds Iran’s population. Two, no known method of estimation produces a reasonable guess at those levels.
> there is no credible source in this scenario
There are. There aren’t if you assume ex ante they don’t exist, or if you’re committed to ignoring them.
As I said, West considers Iran as enemy, used words by BBC reflects this clearly.
1. "accused of" - we don't know, but lets say they're "accusing" them
2. if true, then they have killed the "police officers" (seems many?) so what do you expect from Iran?
And let us not act like the decades of sanction were not designed to do exactly this. Sanctions mean you create as much hardships as possible for the people in hope they topple their government. They nearly never work but here we are.
> Contrary to popular belief, economic sanctions are ineffective in fulfilling their objectives. Historical observations from Russia to Cuba and Iran reveal that the more sanctions are designed to pressure the ruling class, the harder ordinary citizens are hit. Leaders often perceive sanctions as a means to enhance nationalism, portraying the United States and its allies as hostile. In many instances, such actions have only strengthened their hold on power while stifling dissent internally.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yljdgwppzo
As for the protests, the truth is also that these were not peaceful protests. Mossads agents had been arming people and instructing them to riot. Hundreds of police offers have been murdered and mosques have been burned down. Mossad agents have been instructed to fire at protestors to increase the death toll.
Yes, there has been valid criticism and unhappiness with the government. But most of these people had been protesting for economic reasons. They didn't want to see their country invaded.
Today many of the people that had protested in January are joining the mass demonstrations in favor of the Islamic Republic. The war has united the Iranians.
Source?
> “Foreign actors are arming the protesters in Iran with live firearms, which is the reason for the hundreds of regime personnel killed,” wrote Tamir Morag, the diplomatic correspondent for Israel’s Channel 14, during the uprising. “Everyone is free to guess who is behind it.” Morag and his network are well known for their close ties to Netanyahu.
https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/iran-ministry-of-intelligence...
You also find the some information in a Israeli Newspaper:
> On December 29, what is dubbed the Mossad X/Twitter account in Farsi encouraged Iranians to protest against the Iranian regime, telling them that it is literally physically with them at the demonstrations.
> “Go out together into the streets. The time has come,” the Mossad wrote. “We are with you,” it added. “Not only from a distance and verbally. We are with you in the field.” [...]
> Foreign actors had armed Iranians to help them fight against the regime’s forces being used to crack down on and oppress protesters, Channel 14’s Tamir Morag reported Tuesday. Iran’s foreign minister retweeted the report for his own agenda.
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-883524
See also interview with Prof. Marandi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-tcwcon30M
He claims the a nurse was burned alive in a clinic by rioters.
All according to the numbers confirmed by Iranian government.
God, the moral depravity of defending the IRGC and islamic regime is mind boggling. You can still be against Mossad and what they do in Iran while holding the islamic regime accountable for its own atrocities.
So, how many have been killed in those two days of massacre exactly?
A credible source please, and "killed", not "accused of killing", "allegedly killed" etc.
I was following this news in real-time at that time. One thing I noticed was that media outlets started killing/withdrawing many of their stories.
That made mighty suspicious.
This feels far too much like Iranian government propaganda to be plausible.
It would be very surprising if they didn't. Heck FBI was doing it to citizens at one point, during war against terror.
The US and Israel have been carpet bombing Iran for weeks now, blowing up hospitals, schools, power plants and residential buildings, yet the Iranian death toll is "only" around 1,500 so far. Yet we are to believe that Iran killed 40k of its own people in a day - you would literally be able to see piles of corpses from space!
Israel has also claimed that they've hacked every traffic camera in Tehran, yet are mysteriously unable to provide any actual evidence of the supposed massacre - meanwhile, Iran released several videos showing foreign agitators distributing weapons, people attacking civilians etc.
No they haven't. The US started phasing out carpet bombing[0] half a century ago. You discredit yourself by making such trivially falsifiable assertions.
The US and Israel use precision strikes. It is why the ratio of targets per sortie is by far the highest ever recorded in a major conflict.
One can argue whether or not it is a good idea for the bombs to be flying around in the first place, but there is no version of physics that allows anyone to avoid collateral damage as a practical matter.
Use words and phrases correctly, or expect an argument.
And regardless of the USA, Israel is most certainly not above carpet bombing civilians.
Why would you expect a precision bomb to have a JDAM package? That is not the only type of guidance package. In fact, most of the footage I've seen (largely Israeli) has clearly been laser-guided bombs. They aren't the same thing, and the latter is more precise than JDAM in any case.
Use of precision-guided bombs in a city is not "carpet bombing".
I swear, it's almost as if the anti-Israel mob _wants_ it to be true.
You’re parroting IRGC propaganda, which is why people are arguing with you.
“We are innocent civilians and the Israelis are carpet bombing us”… said by the people that funded October 7th and killed more of their own people than the Israeli bombs did.
Iran’s government has been violently belligerent for decades, and continues to this day to bomb its Arab neighbours including hitting their civilians! They don’t get to whine about the morality of civilian versus military deaths.
Without going into too much detail, my position and line of work means that I have to keep very informed on the middle east and so far I've seen a lot of hatred, and very little factual basis. In fact every single person I personally talked to was very uninformed on these matters which is fine, as long as you accept it and don't form extreme opinions on entire countries.
If Israel doesn't want people to form "extreme opinions" about them then maybe they should stop oppressing and murdering poeple with a compete disregard for human life.
Forensic Architecture is one of the most reputed organizations for this line of work.
Their reports are read with great deal of respect here on HN and they cover more than this conflict. If they don't count as credible and competent, nothing will satisfy. The moral equivalent of covering one's eyes and ears.
So I will appreciate if you stop this sham of yours asking for a citation.
While you are at it, do better than ad hominem.
For HN audience, the report was discussed on HN here
He's in there as well, truly unapologetic Zionist.
Sadly, my country does this too, pay shills to promote their party line on Whatsapp.
This doesn't change the fact that Iran is the aggressed party in an invasion of an incredibly aggressive US-Israel axis that seem to revel in death.
You can hate the Iranian murderous regime, and also understand that it is fighting against another evil, murderous regime.
You would prefer to tell people in Iran who oppose the regime to take up arms (which they don't have) and fight IRGC soldiers with better training and more resources?
Best case, if they did, Iran would end up in a situation like Syria. Would that be an improvement?
More likely, it would simply be a massacre.
Let's not pretend that the US and Israel regimes have the best interest of the Iranian people in mind. They want murder.
Edit: and even people celebrating in Iran itself, which seems incredibly brave.
"videos posted on social media showed joy and defiance elsewhere, with people cheering as a statue was toppled in the city of Dehloran in Ilam province, dancing in the streets of Karaj city, near Tehran in Alborz province, and celebrating in the streets of Izeh in Khuzestan province. In the town of Galleh Dar in southern Iran, people knocked down a monument commemorating Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who founded the Islamic Republic in 1979, a video on social media showed."
https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/polarised-ira...
Even The Guardian, as anti-Trump as a source can be, reported that "videos shared widely on social media also showed people celebrating, dancing, honking car horns and setting off fireworks as news of the leader’s death broke."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/01/celebration-or...
I am very skeptical of war propaganda. You would do well to be skeptical of it too.
Not condoning anyone but shows the priority of both sides.
Literally all Israeli casualties were civilian.
Your comment made me realize international media doesn't care to even publish this, leading to this incredibly skewed view.
I'd edit my previous comment but I can't.
This one was just this week: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iran-execution-teen-wrestler-ja...
So there's that.
Iran might have at best have a self-regime change, at worst split in 3. Now that the war is on, the regime consolidated.
The evil of your enemy does not excuse your own strategic stupidity or cruelty.
Before I get downvoted to hell Im not conding anything or taking any side, just pointing out an obvious deduction
"Rights groups said the trio were executed without a fair trial and had given confessions under torture."
Of course it will be hard to completely avoid civilian casualties in the long run, I fear but yeah Iran has been pretty measured. Iran's fight is with the US imperialists and Israel and not the people that live in the region.
Surely the US are using civilians as human shields?
That is why they constantly lie about Hamas using human shields. Every accusation is a confession with these people.
They had years and years to correct the open source maps and inform the world at large about the presence and location of the girls school, but didn't?
Imagine being a parent of such a child, being informed enough to understand what the regime aspires to (ballistic nuclear missiles), and what a large number of nuclear powers think about this. If you are that parent, would you be happy with your child being sent to a school on the grounds of a military base? They risk being the first casualties in war. Obviously, in this fun society of Iran, these parents had no choice, for if they did, they would insist their children go to a different school. The victims you complain about, are indeed victims, but first and foremost victims of Iran's regime, its against the statutes of Rome to use human shields.
A hotel is not a military target, a military complex is.
I do think international law is up for some modernization with regards to human shields etc. An improved law (that recognizes the existence of open source maps) could mandate every nation to mark the locations of schools etc.
If however you place the school as a human shield (war crime), and mark that shield on an open map, such international law should legitimize war unless a deadline to move the school is met.
If a military complex is not marked as having a childrens school, while in fact there is, then its a war crime too.
Then there will be no silly forum discussions on who's fault these casualties are, the goal of regulation is to prevent misery, not to point fingers afterwards.
They are infamous for fulminating against liberals, plotting to kill enemies, torturing and hanging dissidents from cranes, persecuting minorities and women, funding terror cells, and fleecing their citizens to enrich themselves.
Many of the comments here suffer from a misguided refusal to be impressed by the regime's reputation, as though anyone the American establishment criticises must automatically be righteous.
You have to thank the actions of the genocidal State of Israel that anything below it is somewhat acceptable. Reaping what they sow themselves.
People always ask here why the community flags every post on these issues. Comments like this are why. Hardly anyone on this site knows even basic information on the nations involved.
If I were in charge of HN, I'd geoblock anyone from commenting on the Middle East who isn't at an IP from the Middle East. I wouldn't be able to comment either, but at least there might be enlightening information in the comments.
That said, the first page of any reputable history on Iran/Israel relations would go over 1979, when Israel went from friend of Iran to foe, based on Khomeini's interpretation of Islam.
Israel and Iran somewhat independently came to the conclusion that they’re the regional hegemon, and that protecting that position is worth any cost.
This left Israel similar to the USA post 9/11 or Peal Harbor. On a streak to make it never happen again in a very decisive/brutal way. Hegemony wasn't the moving factor for Israel, at least until very late in the war, and due to the same reasons
Locally, yes. Iran not condemning those attacks was a fuckup.
More broadly, this is the Levant versus Persia, a power contest as old as civilization.
Most of their ordinance has been intercepted. And a good fraction was unguided enough that it would have hit a school or hospital.
Already has in Azerbaijan [0] and attempted in Israel [1].
Most reporting is hyper-regional and somewhat kept under wraps (eg. Qatar and UAE are actively prosecuting leakers who are using Reddit, and have even taken control of Qatar's subreddit [2]) or reported on in regional languages.
I've found the information control in this conflict to be much more strategic/professional in comparison to what was is seen in Ukraine and Russia.
[0] - https://www.euronews.com/2026/03/06/aliyev-vows-attacks-on-a...
[1] - https://www.jns.org/news/israel-news/iranian-cluster-bomb-hi...
[2] - https://www.reddit.com/r/qatar/comments/1rt2fth/timeout/
The fact Israel has a very effective defensive system (active and passive) does not mean Iranians avoid civilian targets.
So every time allied militaries protect their schools and hospitals by intercepting missiles, drones etc from Iran, you give credit to Iran?
I think it’s more that these attacks are counterproductive to Iran’s state goals, which reveals that we’re seeing a hardline faction in Iran use the war as cover for consolidating power.
We in the West, well we are aiding the US in this war by allowing it to operate from military bases in our countries. We deserve it for looking the other way while Israel has been mass murdering Palestinians for more than two years now.
At least Spain showed some guts.
Of course it will also potentially cause suffering in the global south but that is on those that started the war.
Maybe there have been further attacks today that I missed but if true that would be an huge escalation.
My last information was that China has no problem getting oil but that was like two days ago.
People who say Iran is "crazy" or "lashing out" are falling for the most brain dead propaganda