IDF Kills Aide-de-Camp to New Iranian Supreme Leader — Second Military Bureau Chief Eliminated

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz announced during an assessment with IDF top brass that Abu-al-Qasem Baba'iyan — the newly appointed head of the military bureau of Iran's supreme leader — had been killed in an Israeli strike. Baba'iyan had been appointed only a few days earlier to replace his predecessor, who was eliminated in the opening Israeli strikes of the war. The killing of the second consecutive military bureau chief of the supreme leader is a significant intelligence and targeting success. The military bureau chief serves as the senior military aide and coordinator between the supreme leader's office and the Iranian armed forces — a critical command-and-control node. The killing comes on the same day the Assembly of Experts announced the selection of a new supreme leader, whose identity has not yet been formally announced. Eliminating the new leader's military aide within hours of or concurrent with the succession announcement sends a powerful signal: Israel is targeting the reconstituting command structure of the Islamic Republic in real time. It also demonstrates deep intelligence penetration of the supreme leader's office security.