Iran: Mojtaba Khamenei Appoints Prominent Military Leaders to General Staff, IRGC, and Basij

Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, has issued new decrees involving the appointment of high-ranking military commanders within the army's structure and its key institutions. These decrees included the appointment of Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi as Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), with the rank of Major General. Major General Ali Abdollahi was also appointed as Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, succeeding Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi, who was assassinated in the recent conflict that erupted in late February. Vahidi's appointment comes as a successor to Major General Mohammad Pakpour, who was killed during confrontations with US and Israeli forces. The appointments also encompassed Brigadier General Kiomars Heydari as Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Major General Mostafa Izadi as Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC, Admiral Ali Azmaei as Commander of the IRGC Naval Force, in addition to Hossein Taeb as head of the Basij (Popular Mobilization Organization). In the context of these appointments, Khamenei emphasized in Ali Abdollahi's decree the importance of enhancing the defensive and security capabilities and readiness of the armed forces and the Basij. He underscored the need to strengthen the ability to respond promptly to various threats, whether military, security, cognitive, or hybrid. Regarding Ahmad Vahidi's appointment, Khamenei stressed the necessity of bolstering the IRGC's capabilities to achieve "maximum deterrence" and to be prepared to carry out strong offensive operations against what he described as "the enemy." These fundamental changes in the leadership of the Iranian military establishment follow the recent war and are part of a restructuring process for the supreme command of the armed forces and the IRGC. This aims to compensate for the leaders assassinated during the recent confrontations and to enhance the overall readiness of the Iranian military system.