Thousands of Iranians took to the streets in Tehran and other cities following the Israeli airstrikes that killed Mohammad Bagheri, Iran’s Armed Forces Chief of Staff, and Hossein Salami, the Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Demonstrators carried portraits of Salami and nuclear scientist Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, who was also killed in the attack.

The protests, centered in Azadi Square, were marked by anti-Israel and anti-U.S. slogans.

Iranian state media and religious leaders called the assassinations “a declaration of war”, vowing that “the blood of our martyrs will not be forgotten”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the operation, stating that Iran’s nuclear program posed an existential threat to Israel.

In response, Iran’s Parliament moved to suspend cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and cut diplomatic ties with Israel and its allies.

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