Israel strikes Iran: Senior advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei killed in Operation Rising Lion

Senior advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and former Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, was killed in Israeli attack on Iran, Iran's local media reported.

As Israel attacked Iran's nuclear facilities on Friday (June 13), it also targeted senior military officials, including the chief of Iran's revolutionary guards.

Israel launched "Operation Rising Lion", during which Hossein Salami, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Chief, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri and the Commander of Iran’s Emergency Command were eliminated.

The Israeli Defence Forces confirmed that the military eliminated the "ruthless mass murderers", saying that the "world is a better place without them".

Moreover, nuclear scientists were also killed who were working on the Iranian bomb, including Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, according to state media.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu also confirmed that the Israeli attack targeted Iran's leading nuclear scientists who were working on the Iranian bomb.

Civilians have also died in several neighbourhoods in Tehran after residential buildings were hit by Israeli strikes, Iran's IRNA news agency reported.

Following the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel is at a decisive point in its history, adding that the operation will continue as long as is needed until the mission is completed.

The Israeli PM stressed that the goal of the operation was to strike Iran's nuclear infrastructure, ballistic missile factories, and military capabilities.

Netanyahu added that Iran has enriched enough uranium for nine nuclear bombs, saying that in recent months it took unprecedented steps toward weaponization.

“We can’t leave these threats for the next generation,” he continued. “Because if we don’t act now, there will not be another generation. If we don’t act now, we simply won’t be here.”

Iranian supreme leader Khamenei has vowed ‘harsh punishment’ for Israel after Friday's attack. "The Zionist regime at dawn today extended its vile and bloody hand to commit a crime in our dear country and revealed its evil nature more than ever by striking residential centers," Khamenei said in a statement to the Iranian people.