On Monday, June 23, 2025, an alleged Israeli strike hit the area north of Vanak Square in Tehran, in the vicinity of the FARAJA headquarters near the intersection of Valiasr Street and Mirdamad Boulevard, killing eight individuals, and injuring at least two others, according to local sources and social media reports.

Those killed included several members of Iranian security forces. Identified fatalities included 40-year-old FARAJA police officer Amir Naderi Hesari; 24-year-old police officer Amir Hossein Salehi; Alireza Lotfi, deputy head of the FARAJA intelligence organization; Captain Amir Hossein Nemati of the Police Special Unit; Colonel Haj Abbas Moradi Pour of the FARAJA Special Unit; Captain Asghar Abdolvand; and Amir Ali Momivand, all affiliated with FARAJA units, according to reports including from IRNA and Fars News Agency.

Under International Humanitarian Law, civilians are protected against attack “unless and for such time as” they directly participate in hostilities. As such, Airwars has classified individuals working as police officers civilians, unless local sources reported that the individual was directly participating in hostilities, in which case Airwars has classified them as a militant. As no sources reported that those harmed in this incident were participating in hostilities, those harmed have been recorded a civilians. This will be updated should additional information become available.

Amir Hossein Nemati was remembered as a “3rd-ranked taekwondo fighter,” with many colleagues speaking of his athletic prowess and the Tehran Province Taekwondo Board condemning his killing.

Amir Ali Momiwand was remembered as religious and dedicated to his faith, someone who “went to the mosque with his father every day before entering FARAJA.”

Amir Hossein Salehi was mourned by the head of the Amol Martyrs and Veterans Affairs Foundation in an article by Akharinkhabar who specified that Amir’s funeral was held at the cemetery of the martyrs of the Imamzadeh Ibrahim (AS) shrine. While loved ones quoted by Akharinkhabar referred to him as a “soldier,” specifically “he was the only child in his family and was engaged in sacred military service in the Tehran Police Force in Vanak Square.” Descriptions of Amir’s role suggest he was involved in domestic policing, and as such, it is not understood that he was directly participating in hostilities. As such, he has been recorded as a civilian. This will be updated should additional information become available.

The Chief of Police met with the family of Abbas Moradi Pour in Tuyserkan city to honor his sacrifice and their loss, while mentioning that he had 30 years of service in the FARAJA Special Unit. According to IKNA from Hamedan, the funerals for Abbas and Asghar Abdolvand were held at the he Imam Khomeini (RA) prayer hall to the Imam Zaman (AJ) Mosque in Tuyserkan.

Among the victims was 49-year-old Hojjat Rouintan, a civilian hospital worker employed as a service worker at Valiasr NAJA Hospital. Rouintan had worked at the hospital for approximately 18 years cleaning various wards, while also taking on additional shifts as a security guard in a nearby residential complex to support his family. Accounts from his family described the circumstances of his death. According to his wife, the two had been in contact until shortly after 11:00 a.m. on the day of the incident, after which he stopped responding to calls. He was found the following day under rubble caused by the strike and several of his coworkers were injured.

Sources described Rouintan as a long-time worker who took on multiple jobs to meet living expenses. One account noted that he “worked multiple shifts for pocket money for [his] children,” while another described him as someone who brought morale to wounded individuals at the hospital during wartime, often dancing to entertain patients. He had been married to his wife, Sanaz, for 22 years, with whom he had two children, 17-year-old Sogand and 15-year-old Amir Ali. Sanaz remembered her husband as “a very kind, patient and family-friendly man,” who, throughout the war, “tried to lighten the atmosphere of fear in the family and even in his workplace with humour.” According to IRNA, Sanaz worked in the maternity ward of the hospital while Hojjat worked in the imaging department while they both lived in Andisheh Town and commuted to Tehran for work.

Sogand, who was described as “very dependent on her father,” recalled finding out about his death. “When I heard from my mother that there was no news of my father; I didn’t take the matter very seriously until I called my father myself but he didn’t answer; it was impossible for my father not to answer me; I called him several times during the day and he answered immediately, but that day was the only day in my life that he didn’t answer me; I was heartbroken, and I was slowly overcome with sadness; that night I was at my uncle’s house; I texted my mother, ‘Mom, let’s not fool ourselves. If Dad were alive, it would be impossible for him not to tell us about himself; let’s prepare ourselves for something bad to happen…’” When a journalist from IRNA News told Hojjat’s son, Amir Ali, that the 15-year-old was now the “family man” – the man of the house – Amir balked, saying that he didn’t “want to take [his] father’s place at all.”

Reports indicate that the strike impacted buildings around the Valiasr NAJA Hospital, (the facility referenced is specifically the NAJA-affiliated hospital rather than another hospital of the same name located elsewhere in the city). Footage and posts shared online on Facebook and X described explosions and smoke across the Vanak Square area, with some sources suggesting that multiple locations in the vicinity were struck. Additional contextual reporting indicated that explosions were heard across the wider Vanak Square area, with one source referring to strikes in the “NAJA command area” at the Valiasr–Mirdamad intersection. Other accounts described the area as being engulfed in smoke, with multiple impacts reported across nearby neighborhoods.

At the time of reporting, casualty figures varied, with initial reports citing four fatalities and two injuries, though the identification of additional named individuals suggests a higher death toll associated with the strike.

The Israeli Military announced via it’s official Telegram account that it had struck three sites in Tehran affiliated with intelligence and internal security operations. The report’s language was not specific enough to definitively match to this incident and render the incident a declared strike. However, given potential relevance, the post has been included in the ‘Military Statement’ section of the assessment, below.

Where sources identified a belligerent, all sources attributed the attack to the Israeli military.