On February 28, the first day of the current war between the forces of light (America, Israel) and the forces of darkness (the Islamic Republic of Iran), Western newscasters understandably focused on the death of the supreme leader. Among other senior leaders killed on the same day was Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Khamenei and head of the Defense Council. Now more information about that meeting has just appeared at Iran International, the well-informed website that Iranians abroad run.
More about the subject matter of that meeting can be found here: “Tehran meeting struck by Israel likely tied to Iran’s atomic bomb plans,” by Morad Vaisi, Iran International, March 20, 2026:
A meeting of senior Iranian officials that was hit by an Israeli airstrike on February 28 may have been linked to the Islamic Republic’s final deliberations over building a nuclear weapon.
On the last day of February, as reports emerged that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had been killed in an Israeli bombardment, it was also announced that a meeting of the Defense Council had been struck.
Several senior figures were killed in the strike, the Israeli military confirmed on March 16.
Among those killed were Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Khamenei and secretary of the Defense Council; Abdolrahim Mousavi, chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces; and Aziz Nasirzadeh, the defense minister.
Also killed were two figures associated with Iran’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, known by its Persian acronym SPND, the direct successor organization to Iran’s pre-2004 nuclear weapons program.
The two figures were former SPND chief Brigadier General Reza Mozaffarinia and the organization’s new head Brigadier General Hossein Jabal Ameli.
Washington has sanctioned more than 30 SPND scientists and multiple affiliated entities, accusing the organization of overseeing “dual-use research and development activities applicable to nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons delivery systems.”
While Tehran denies pursuing a nuclear weapon, the UN nuclear watchdog and Western powers including the US and its European allies maintain that Iran’s high-level uranium enrichment (up to 60%) has no credible civilian justification.
Iran currently possesses some 400 kg of near-bomb-grade enriched uranium. The US and Israel have in recent days discussed sending special forces into Iran to secure the stockpile at a later stage of the war, according to a report by Axios.
US War Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that President Trump saw Iran advancing ever closer to nuclear capability and viewed it as unacceptable, prompting his decision to launch the war against Tehran….
That meeting of the Defense Council on February 28 was undoubtedly called to discuss Iran’s nuclear plans. The men killed that day were senior leaders, including Ali Khamkhani, whose task was to oversee the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members charged with nuclear weapons development, and to be the link between them and the supreme leader. Now we know that the meeting must have been linked to the final decisions about how to proceed with that development. It’s still unclear if the IDF knew when it struck the meeting of its connection to the nuclear program. But whether it did or not, the damage it inflicted on that program, by eliminating so many of those involved at a senior level, was considerable.
Tony says
Shia Muslims in Iran wage JIHAD against the West while Sunni Muslims from Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, etc. wage STEALTH JHAD like a locomotive against the West since BOTH Muslims are enemies of Non-Muslims as taught in Islam’s Qur’an(Qur’an 9:5, 29, 111; 49:15, etc.). Allah in Qur’an 5:51 says, “O you who have believed[Muslims], DO NOT TAKE the Jews and the Nasara(Christians) as friends. They are friends to one another. And whoever among you takes them as friends, so surely he is of them. Surely Allah does not guide the unjust people.”
Allah in Qur’an 9:111 says, “Surely Allah has purchased from the believers[Muslims] their souls and their money so that they may have the garden[Heavenly Paradise]. They engage in war for the sake of Allah[ie. Allah’s Cause to make Islam Supreme], so they kill and are killed…”.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Regardless, the real achievement on that day was the elimination of Ali Khamenei, even more than that of Shamkhani and the meeting he was convening. B’cos by eliminating Khamenei, they ensured that Iran can never be the same again, even if Trump were to call an end to the war tomorrow! Especially since the council of experts have been bombed, Mojtaba dares not show himself in public and the people at the head of the regime – Pezeshkian and Araghchi – have zero clout w/ the IRGC, which is currently what’s really left of the regime. Although it would be useful to eliminate them as well
Taffy says
Getting all attending the meeting with the Ayatollah was winning the Iranian superfecta. The Ayatollah alone would’ve been good, but decapitating The who’s who list in Iran was a Mossad/ IAF coup. Mossad hacked into Iran’s traffic camera system to follow every movement of the Ayatollah and those associated with him. When they all met that fateful day, Israel knew that they were together at the Ayatollah’s compound. The IAF, flying a few F-15i Strike Eagles IAF dropped many bunker busters, all exploding inside. It was overkill, but Israel was not taking chances.
Israel is successfully going after the rest of who’s who in Iran using the technique used by a group of MIT students to win the 2009 DARPA contest, where the first contestants to locate 10 red weather balloons, tethered at ten different undisclosed locations throughout the United States would win a $40K prize. The MIT Media Lab group did it in 8+ hours! Google: 10 red balloons DARPA — and read the Wikipedia article for a complete explanation.
Unfortunately today, Iran scored a direct hit in Israel, injuring about 85 people, many seriously. This will embolden the Iranian regime so they will not surrender, even though in the grand scheme of things, not surrendering guarantees the death of anyone associated with the regime.
Israel is saving Pezeshkian for a called shot, in much the same way Babe Ruth pointed at the center field flagpole during the 1932 World Series against the Chicago Cubs, and then hit a 490 foot blast, exactly where he pointed, just past the flagpole, for a home run, breaking the 4-4 tie. Incidentally, the Yankees swept the series against the Cubs.
Cynthia says
Israeli intelligence has been remarkable the last few years. It has enabled the degradation of Iranian and Hezbollah forces and the conditions necessary for the most recent attacks.
Opportunity and the US coordination made the decision to strike. Iran has the long range ballistic missiles and was on the verge of nuclear enhancement.
You don’t wait for that to be fired at you before taking action.
Ralph says
You do if you’re an American Democrat/communist politician and want something to flog president Trump over.
NIck says
We must remember that we are dealing with fanatical nutcases. And, although we consider them nutcases, they consider themselves soldiers of Allah and hence, unlike us, don’t fear death. Rather, they welcome it.
Further, they will never negotiate with infidels. Even when they appear to be negotiating, in reality, they’re buying time to kill you. Israelis are the first on their list of course.
No, the USA and Israel have to finish this. They have to keep targeting those with the big beard and funny hat (the Mullahs) until they are all but gone. No discussion, no mercy, a bullet to the head is all they deserve.
gravenimage says
Iran’s Nuclear Planning and an IDF Spanner in the Works
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Hear, hear!