The Israel Defense Forces announced Tuesday that an airstrike in Iran killed Mahdi Vafaei, the head of the engineering branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force's Lebanon Corps. The strike targeted the Mahallat area, approximately 200 miles south of Tehran.

Vafaei led Iran's efforts to construct underground infrastructure for Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Assad regime in Syria, managing dozens of projects used to store advanced weapons, according to the IDF. His elimination degrades Hezbollah's ability to develop such sites and hampers Tehran's regional terror operations, the military stated.

The operation forms part of a broader U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran that began on February 28, involving more than 800 strike sorties and 16,000 munitions. Israel has identified over 5,000 targets inside Iran, including thousands of terror-related sites, with an additional 2,000 in Lebanon struck since Hezbollah entered the fray on March 2.

On the same day, the IDF struck the Tofiq Daru Company factory near the site, which it accused of producing fentanyl supplied to Iran's SPND organization for chemical weapons research under a civilian guise. Additional targets included 20 weapons manufacturing sites, over 80 munitions on regime infrastructure, missile production facilities, IRGC naval assets, and air defense systems.

This strike follows a series of high-profile eliminations. Iran recently confirmed the death of IRGC Navy commander Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri after an Israeli strike. Earlier losses include Iran's intelligence minister and other senior figures amid the escalating conflict.

The campaign intensified after Hezbollah, Iran's key proxy, resumed attacks on Israel in early March to avenge strikes that reportedly killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Israel has since conducted extensive operations in Lebanon, killing over 900 Hezbollah operatives and declaring a security zone up to the Litani River.

In a related development on Tuesday, an Israeli naval strike in Beirut killed Hajj Yusuf Ismail Hashem, Hezbollah's southern front commander responsible for border attacks, along with several subordinates. Lebanon's health ministry reported seven dead and dozens wounded in overnight strikes on the capital.

No immediate response came from Iran or Hezbollah regarding Vafaei's death. The IDF emphasized precautionary measures to avoid civilian casualties. Over 1,300 people have died in Lebanon from Israeli strikes since hostilities renewed, with more than 1.2 million displaced, according to Lebanese authorities.

The conflict has drawn in multiple fronts, with Hezbollah suffering heavy command losses since the 2023-2024 war, including former leader Hassan Nasrallah and chief of staff Haytham Ali Tabatabai.