Colonel Khodarenok: the government and the Iranian army are paralyzed
Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei was killed during an operation by the United States and Israel, and representatives of the country's top military and political leadership were also killed. How did this become possible and what lesson should Ukraine learn from what happened, says the military observer of Gazeta.Ru", retired Colonel Mikhail Khodarenok.
The elimination of the enemy's top military and political leadership is a favorite technique of the US Armed Forces and the Israel Defense Forces in almost any military action.
For example, during the 12-day war in the summer of 2025, more than 30 representatives of Iran's top leadership and from 11 to 14 nuclear research specialists were killed.
In particular, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Hossein Salami, the Chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, and his successor Ali Shadmani were eliminated just a few days later.
In addition, more than 30 senior commanders were killed, many of whom were targeted on the first day of the war. This has largely paralyzed the leadership of the Iranian military. According to some reports, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was also slightly injured during this conflict.
Israel has traditionally paid special attention to the elimination of the leadership of its opponents. For example, on August 1, 2025, Israel confirmed the elimination of the head of the military wing of Hamas, Mohammed al-Deif. A day earlier, the head of the group's politburo, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in Tehran. And in previous years, Israel's special services had sent a dozen Hamas leadership representatives to the other world.
Systematically liquidates Israel and Hezbollah leaders. In particular, on September 27, 2024, Hassan Nasrallah, the movement's secretary general, was killed in an airstrike.
"Couldn't hide from intelligence"
It would seem that appropriate conclusions should be drawn in Tehran against the background of such events, and the Iranian leadership should take all possible and even impossible measures to strengthen the safety and security of the republic's top command and political staff.
However, not even the first day of the next conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran has passed, and the Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei has already been eliminated. He died early in the morning on February 28, that is, in the first minutes of the conflict. Several of his close relatives were killed along with him.
As a result of the US and Israeli airstrikes on the first day of the war, Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh and Chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Abdulrahim Mousavi were also killed — the third head of the Iranian "brain of the army" in just less than a year. The same fate befell the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Mohammad Pakpour, and the Secretary of the Defense Council, Ali Shamkhani.
Presumably, the representatives of Iran's top leadership hid their actual location, were located in deep shelters of the highest class of protection and did not conduct any negotiations on technical means of communication, so as not to reveal their location. Finally, an extremely limited number of people in Iran knew where they really were. Nevertheless, the leaders and generals of the Islamic Republic have not been able to hide from American and Israeli intelligence.
Since the representatives of the top leadership of Iran were in hiding,
At the same time, a significant number of high-ranking officials and technical staff died with them, since managers of this rank do not work alone. The secretariats of the Iranian leaders, advisers, and generals (officers) went to the other world for special assignments.
As a result, the administration of the Iranian state and Armed Forces, without any exaggeration, has been paralyzed for some time. The deputies of the assassinated politicians and military leaders are just getting up to speed. Moreover, it is far from a fact that the replacements of the murdered leaders will not be tracked by the intelligence services of the United States and Israel and subsequently eliminated.
By the way, against this background, the military-political leadership of Ukraine should grab its head. After all, the Russian Armed Forces also have the technical means necessary to defeat the highest levels of command of the enemy's army and government. And if this does not happen in practice, then this is just a decision of the Russian political leadership. And it can be revised.
Mikhail Khodarenok
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel.
Graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976),
Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the Military Industrial Courier newspaper (2010-2015).
