Israel says it killed top intel official in Iran’s Basij paramilitary force

The top intelligence official of Iran’s feared Basij paramilitary force was killed in an Israeli strike, the Israel Defense Forces announced Friday morning.

Ismail Ahmadi was killed in the same attack that took out Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, the leader of the all-volunteer force, earlier this week, the IDF posted on X.

“In his role, Ahmadi played a central part in advancing and executing terrorist operations carried out by the Basij unit’s forces, and alongside that, he was responsible for enforcing public order and regime values on behalf of the Revolutionary Guards,” the Israeli military said.

“Amid the internal protests in Iran, and particularly in the recent period with their intensification, Ahmadi played a central role in leading the main suppression operations through the use of severe violence, widespread arrests, and the application of force against civilian protesters.”

The strike that took out Soleimani and Ghani followed a tip from Iranian civilians that the Basij leaders were holed up in a tent with their lieutenants in a wooded area of Tehran after US and Israeli attacks had destroyed their headquarters and command posts over the previous two weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week.

The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War noted in an assessment published late Thursday that the circumstances of the Iranian thugs’ demise showed the operational and psychological impact of Operation Epic Fury on Tehran’s security apparatus.

“Running a headquarters out of a tent rather than an established facility is certainly suboptimal, though not necessarily wholly ineffective,” the ISW wrote, also citing reports that some security forces had taken to hiding under bridges in a desperate attempt to avoid becoming targets.

“These reports indicate a notable level of operational shock across the regime’s coercive apparatus, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Basij, and Law Enforcement Command (LEC), and suggest that elements of Iran’s internal security system are functioning suboptimally at this time.”

Ahmadi is the fourth top Iranian official confirmed to have been killed by allied strikes so far this week, along with Soleimani, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani and Intelligence Minister Esmaeil Khatib.

Earlier Friday, Iranian state TV reported that Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesperson Ali Mohammad Naini had been killed, hours after he insisted that Tehran was still able to build missiles despite the US and Israel’s 21-day bombardment.