Mohammad Shirazi, an Iranian military officer who led the Supreme Leader’s Military Office for decades and served as a key conduit between Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and senior commanders, was killed Feb. 28, 2026, in airstrikes in Tehran. He died in the opening, decapitation-style wave of strikes that targeted Iran’s senior security leadership.
Shirazi headed the Supreme Leader’s Military Office from 1989 until his death. The office, also described as the Supreme Leader’s military bureau, sat at the center of communications between Khamenei and top commanders across Iran’s armed forces and security institutions, carrying directives and assessments at the highest levels of the state.
Although the post was largely conducted out of public view, it gave Shirazi influence through access and coordination rather than field command. His work focused on keeping senior military leadership aligned with the Supreme Leader’s priorities, maintaining channels for rapid decision-making, and managing the flow of information during crises and operational planning.
Shirazi was among several senior defense and security figures killed in the first wave of strikes. Israeli military statements described him as a key figure at the top of Iran’s power structure because of his coordinating role, even though he was not known as a direct commander of combat forces.
For more than three decades, he helped manage the institutional link between Iran’s highest political authority and its senior commanders, a role that underscored the importance of civil-military coordination at the apex of the Islamic Republic’s security system.