
Ali Shamkhani, a top adviser to Ayatollah Khamenei, has died in hospital a day after Israel launched airstrikes across the country, Iranian media report.
Shamkhani had previously served as Iran's top national security official for a decade and had represented Iran in rapprochement talks with Saudi Arabia, facilitated by China.
Meanwhile, Iranian authorities said Israeli airstrikes on Friday killed at least 30 military personnel in East Azerbaijan province, according to the ISNA news agency.
"Following the Zionist regime's aggression against this province since Friday morning, 30 military personnel and a member of the Red Crescent have been martyred in defense of the Islamic homeland, and 55 people have been injured," ISNA reported on Saturday, citing East Azerbaijan provincial authorities.
For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that Israel's attacks have set back Iran's nuclear program, perhaps by years, and that the worst blows are yet to come.
"We will strike every country and every target of the Ayatollahs' regime, and what they have felt so far is nothing compared to what will be given to them in the coming days," Netanyahu said in a video message.
He added that the military was now destroying Iran's ability to produce ballistic missiles.
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