They are both accurate
Not necessarily.
There's no denying he was the top general. There's probably quite a bit of disagreement over just how revered he was.
I fail to see why someone would harp on the one word unless they wanted to spin it.
Saying he's the top general is giving straight factual information about who he was.
Saying he was the most revered leader is creating the story that killing him will anger the Iranian people
What did the article say?
I wouldn't know, I didn't read the article, I only saw the headline. Just like so many other people -- which is why the wording of headlines is so important.