Iran moved quickly on Friday and Saturday to replace the commanders of its armed forces who were eliminated by Israeli airstrikes.
The IAF killed Maj.-Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, head of the Armed Forces General Staff; and Maj.-Gen. Hossein Salami, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in the surprise attack on June 13.
Among the others eliminated were Maj.-Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid, commander of the Khatam al-Anbia Central Headquarters; and Maj.-Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the IRGC’s Air Defense.
Iran apparently didn’t want any appearance of a power vacuum and moved immediately to appoint temporary commanders. For instance, Habibollah Sayyari was named temporary commander of the Iranian Armed Forces, and Ahmad Vahidi was named temporary commander of the IRGC, on Friday morning.
It didn’t seem that either of them would stay in his position very long, and both appear to have been replaced within hours by permanent appointments. It is likely they will appear in other leadership roles.
Sayyari was a former naval officer, while Vahidi was a former head of the IRGC’s Quds Force and a former defense minister. Sayyari has critiqued the IRGC in the past and supported investing in Iran’s “deterrence” power.
Who are the new replacements?
By Saturday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had named Maj.-Gen. Mohammad Pakpour as the new commander in chief of the IRGC. Born in 1961 in Arak, he studied geography and then became a member of the Quds Force. He was involved in the suppression of Kurds and was sanctioned by European countries.
Maj.-Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi was named the new chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, state media IRNA reported Friday. He replaced Bagheri.
Mousavi had been the commander of Iran’s army. He left that post to take up his new role. He was quickly replaced by Maj.-Gen. Amir Hatami, who was appointed the new chief commander of the Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran by Khamenei. Hatami was the defense minister from 2013-2021.
Maj.-Gen. Ali Shademani was appointed the new commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters, succeeding Gholam Ali Rashid, who was killed on Friday.
To replace Hajizadeh, Iran tapped Brig.-Gen. Majid Mousavi. Mousavi was a deputy head of the IRGC in the past and is an expert in Iran’s missile program. He has served in Iran’s missile force since the 1980s. As such, he is well placed to take over the reins of Hajizadeh’s key role.
While Iran moved to replace many key officers, it is not clear who will replace some of the others who were reported killed in the IAF airstrikes. For instance, Ali Shamkhani was a close aide to Khamanei, and it is not clear who will take up his role.
In addition, Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani was also reported killed. He had replaced Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a US drone strike in 2020. He was commander of the Quds Force for five years.
Iran will also need to replace Maj.-Gen. Reza Mehrabi, deputy chief of staff for Intelligence Affairs; and Maj.-Gen. Mahdi Rabbani, deputy chief of staff for Operations, who were killed.