IDF confirms killing of Basij commander Soleimani and intel chief Ahmadi in Tehran tent-camp strike

On Day 21 (March 20), the IDF confirmed that its airstrike late Monday on a Basij tent camp in central Tehran killed three of the paramilitary force's most senior leaders. Previously confirmed killed were Basij commander Gholamreza Soleimani and his deputy. The IDF now adds that the same strike also killed Ismail Ahmadi (spelled Esmail Ahmadi in some sources), who served as chief of intelligence for the entire Basij force. According to the IDF, the Basij had set up the tent camp as an improvised forward command after Israeli strikes repeatedly destroyed the paramilitary's fixed headquarters and checkpoints. The leadership was targeted while gathered at the camp. The strike eliminated the commander, deputy commander, and intelligence chief in a single operation — decapitating the Basij's operational and intelligence leadership simultaneously. The Basij (Sazman-e Basij-e Mostazafin) is the IRGC-subordinate internal security and paramilitary force of approximately 90,000 active members, historically used to suppress domestic dissent and serve as a reservoir of ideologically committed fighters. Losing both its commander and intelligence chief simultaneously is a severe blow to IRGC internal security capabilities.