Abdolrahim Mousavi, Iran’s military chief of staff and a senior commander in the country’s regular army, was killed on Feb. 28, 2026, during U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, according to accounts of the attack. The strikes hit a meeting of Iran’s defense council, killing Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh and other senior officials.
Mousavi had held Iran’s top uniformed post since June 13, 2025, when Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appointed him chief of staff of the Armed Forces after the assassination of his predecessor, Mohammad Bagheri. The appointment placed Mousavi in charge of coordinating across Iran’s military branches at a time of heightened regional confrontation.
Before becoming chief of staff, Mousavi served as commander-in-chief of Iran’s Army from 2017 to 2025, a role centered on the country’s conventional forces, readiness planning and command oversight. His advancement through senior command ranks made him a prominent figure within Iran’s defense establishment.
On March 8, 2023, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on Mousavi, alleging that troops under his command used machine guns to fire indiscriminately into crowds during the November 2019 protests and demonstrations that followed the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022. On March 11, 2024, Khamenei awarded Mousavi the Fath Medal in recognition of increasing the armed forces’ defense and combat power and their deterrence capabilities.