Iran replaced the commander of its powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) less than two weeks after the United States designated it a "foreign terrorist organization." Given the wider global agenda advanced by the new IRGC commander, the replacement is a clear signal from Tehran that bowing to Washington's pressure is not an option.

On April 22, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appointed Hossein Salami as the IRGC's new chief, ending Mohammad Ali Jafari's tenure of over a decade. In his recent record, Khamenei has not kept senior officials in key positions past an extended second five-year term, which he is constitutionally authorized to decide. As such, the CEO of the state broadcaster, the head of the judiciary and the chief of staff for the armed forces had to bid farewell after serving their formal tenures. Jafari's expected departure, therefore, had been a matter of broad debate and speculation over the last two years. Still, he held the post beyond the 10-year period, only to be replaced by Salami, who was serving as the IRGC's deputy commander. Salami steadily moved up the ranks in the military after starting duty during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), a background that normally facilitates upward mobility in the Islamic Republic.

As the IRGC's deputy commander and Jafari's right-hand man for nearly a decade, the mechanical engineering graduate played a key part within the powerful force's senior decision-making circle. That has equipped Salami with more than adequate knowledge of the complexities and nuances of the organization's structure.

Salami is also known as a more media-friendly personality when compared to his predecessor, proof of which is his numerous appearances on state TV, during which he has presented a hard-line approach. On various occasions, he has warned Israel that it will pay a heavy price if it "commits a mistake," a term he uses to refer to a possible Israeli strike on Iran. While he has never spoken of an Iranian preemptive or preventive war on Israel, Salami has expressed Iran's resoluteness to respond harshly to any Israeli aggression.