JERUSALEM -- Israel's military said on Sunday that the chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Abdolrahim Mousavi and about 40 other senior commanders were killed in airstrikes in Iran since Saturday.

Speaking at a press briefing, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Effie Defrin said the Israeli Air Force, guided by military intelligence, killed seven members of Iran's top security leadership on Saturday at several locations in Tehran.

Among those killed was Mousavi, who had succeeded Mohammad Bagheri, the former chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces killed in Israeli airstrikes in June last year.

Iran's state-run IRIB TV has confirmed that Mousavi was killed.

"Also at this moment, we are attacking forcefully across Iran, and we will continue as long as necessary," Defrin said, adding that Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir had instructed forces to intensify strikes on missile launchers in Iran.

In a separate statement, the IDF said Israeli warplanes had "dismantled the majority of the aerial defense systems in western and central Iran" and were paving the way toward "establishing aerial superiority" over Tehran.

Earlier on Sunday, Iran confirmed that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in US-Israeli attacks.