Who's Leading the Iran-Israel War?

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                

Smoke rises from the Iranian state TV building in Tehran after an Israeli strike. Photo: Stringer/Getty Images  This was a targeted strike.  

My attention as been drawn to the fact that Trump has told Teheran to evacuate!  Why?  Israel is not nor will want to bomb the civilians of Iran.  Israel has been pin-pointing all along;  they have the capability, to only hit places causing bombing from Iran to Israel!  They have wiped out top leaders of Iran's army, etc., bases, things like that.

Won't that put civilians in the way of the battlefield?  They can't leave by plane;  where can they go but to the hills where the nuclear centers are.  Tehran, home to 10 million people, suffers from severe traffic congestion making a speedy evacuation impossible, says Al Jazeera.                    

"The Israeli military has said it has complete control of the skies over Tehran. It signaled Monday that it's expanding its targets beyond strictly military or nuclear sites, including by bombing Iranian state TV."

In Israel's recent strikes against Iran, the commander-in-chief of the Iranian military, General Hossein Salami, was killed. 

Israel's strikes on Iran killed several Iranian commanders on Friday, including Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, Iran’s highest-ranking military officer, and Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, who was the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an elite wing of the Iranian military.

While Salami was the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, is the overall commander-in-chief of the armed forces.  Trump does not want him targeted.  Evidently he is still in Iran, though there were rumors he had fled to Putin in Russia.  

Eyal Zamir (Hebrew: אייל זמיר; born 26 January 1966) is the current Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, having taken office on 5 March 2025. Zamir previously served as the Director-General of the Israeli Ministry of Defense (2023–2025), as Deputy Chief of Staff between 2018 and 2021, commander of the Southern Command,Military Secretary to the Prime Minister, commander of the 36th Division and commander of the 7th Armored Brigade.  The Israeli military chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, stated that Israel's actions were a "fight to preserve our existence". 

PM , formerly Captain Benjamin Netanyahu served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at age 18  elite special forces unit known as Sayeret Matkal. 

• It is considered one of the premier special forces units of Israel.
• It is known for its clandestine operations and is often tasked with intelligence gathering and counter-terrorism missions.
• Sayeret Matkal is modeled after the British Army's Special Air Service (SAS) and shares the motto "Who Dares Wins". 

"President Trump called on Iranian civilians to "immediately evacuate Tehran" on Monday evening, shortly after which the White House announced he would be departing the G7 summit early to "attend to many important matters."

Why it matters: It's not immediately clear what triggered Trump's dramatic post on Truth Social or his early return from Canada. Israel has been conducting strikes in Tehran since Thursday night, but the U.S. has so far declined to join the operation.

• White House spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer denied reports the U.S. was attacking Iran: "American forces are maintaining their defensive posture, and that has not changed. We will defend American interests," he wrote.
• Trump later told reporters before departing Canada that "they (Iran) want to make a deal, and as soon as I leave here, we're going to be doing something. But I have to leave here."
• Tehran is home to around 10 million people, with around 17 million in the metropolitan area.  I repeat, Israel is not aiming at killing the civilians.  If they leave Tehran, won't they find themselves in the battlefield and be in more harm?  
  
• Pete Hegseth is the USA's Secretary of Defense.  Did he call Trump back? 
• USA's General Flynn is also commenting:
• The conflict has clearly intensified with Israel launching its initial airstrikes back on 13 June. Targets in Iran include military & nuclear facilities, such as Natanz, Esfahan Nuclear Technology Center, Tabriz Airbase, Hamedan Airbase, Amand Missile Base, Bakhtaran missile base, & energy infrastructure such as South Pars, Fajr-e Jam, and Shahran oil depot, as well as the Farda Motors factor. Israel described these actions as aimed at dismantling Iran’s nuclear program and ballistic missile capabilities, reporting a 90% interception rate of Iranian munitions. Iran responded with Operation True Promise III, launching 7 waves of ballistic missile attacks & two waves of drones, causing significant casualties, w/ at least 13 deaths & 270 wounded in Israel.
•  DUBAI/JERUSALEM, June 17 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said he wanted a "real end" to the nuclear dispute with Iran and indicated he may send senior American officials to meet with the Islamic Republic as the Israel-Iran air war raged for a fifth day.
  Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said meanwhile that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei could face the same fate as Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who was toppled in a U.S.-led invasion and eventually hanged after a trial.

• Resource:
• https://www.axios.com/2025/06/16/trump-evacuate-tehran-warning-israel