Iran’s Khamenei appoints six military commanders: What to know
The appointments, which replace figures killed in the war, follow Khamenei naming a new leader of the Islamic Republic’s top security body.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei named six officers to senior military positions on Monday, further formalizing the country’s command structure amid the tensions in the Strait of Hormuz.
What happened: Iranian state media reported that Khamenei made the appointments in an official decree on Monday. They are:
- Ali Abdollahi was named chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, with Kioumars Heydari as his deputy.
- Ahmad Vahidi was named commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and promoted to the rank of major general, while Mostafa Izadi was appointed as his deputy.
- Ali Ozmaei was named commander of the IRGC Navy.
- Hujjat al-Islam Hossein Taeb was named commander of the Basij Force, a volunteer paramilitary organization within the IRGC.
Vahidi had already been serving as acting head of the IRGC following the death of his predecessor, Mohammad Pakpour, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Feb. 28, the first day of the US-Israel-Iran war.
Abdollahi is the current head of the Khatam al-Anbiya military headquarters, and replaces Abdolrahim Mousavi, who was also killed by Israel on Feb. 28. Ozmaei replaces Alireza Tangsiri, who Israel killed in March.
