The supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Mojtaba Jamenei, has carried out a wide restructuring on Monday in the military and security leadership of the country, by appointing the major general of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Ali Abdulahi, as the new chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces.
Abdulahi, who is currently in charge of the Central Headquarters Khatam al-Anbiya --one of the main military commands of Iran--, previously served as governor and deputy minister during the presidential term of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005-2013). In addition, he is on the list of sanctioned individuals by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
The ayatollah has also placed Brigadier General Kiomars Heidari, former commander of the Army Ground Forces, as the new deputy chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, according to information released by the Iranian news agency IRNA.
Likewise, he has appointed Hosein Taeb, former head of the Intelligence Organization of the Revolutionary Guard, as the new top leader of the paramilitary Basij force, replacing Golamreza Soleimani, who died as a result of the bombings against Iranian territory following the offensive launched on February 28 by the United States and Israel.
The ayatollah has also ratified the appointments of Ahmad Vahidi as the new commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guard; Mustafá Izadi as deputy commander-in-chief; and Admiral Ali Azmaei as head of the Navy of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, replacing Alireza Tangsiri, who was killed in the aforementioned airstrikes.
These high-level changes are known just hours after Jamenei appointed the former commander of the Revolutionary Guard Mohsen Rezaei as the new secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), the main security body of the Iranian state.