Iraqi state television reported on Friday that a senior general of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Qassem Soleimani, was killed in an airstrike in the capital Baghdad.
Previous reports said three rockets targeting the airport struck two vehicles nearby, killing at least seven people, including five Iraqi militia members and "two guests" in the cars
There are reports that the US military carried out the strike targeting the Iranian general.
If true, Iran is likely to react sharply amid the already heightened tensions with the US.
Soleimani was the commander of the elite Quds Force, a special forces brigade within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responsible for Iran's extra-territorial military operations.
He was the operational leader charged with overseeing the expansion of Iran's influence in foreign countries such as Syria and Iraq.
NHK
