TPC Staff
The Palestine Chronicle / August 10, 2026
Iran announced a major military leadership reshuffle, appointing six senior commanders across the Armed Forces, IRGC and Basij.
New armed forces and IRGC leadership
Leader of the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic of Iran, Sayyed Mojtaba Khamenei, issued separate orders appointing six senior commanders to key positions across the country’s Armed Forces General Staff, the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Basij.
Brigadier General Ali Abdollahi, previously commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, was appointed Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, while Brigadier General Kioumars Heydari was named Deputy Chief of Staff.
Abdollahi has held several senior military positions, including commander of the IRGC Ground Forces and deputy commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force. He also served as deputy coordinator and later deputy commander of Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces.
His career has also included civilian positions, including governor of Semnan and Gilan provinces and deputy for security affairs at the Interior Ministry.
In another major appointment, Khamenei named Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi commander-in-chief of the IRGC and promoted him to the rank of major general.
Brigadier General Mostafa Izadi was appointed deputy commander-in-chief of the IRGC.
Vahidi previously served as interior minister under late President Ebrahim Raisi and had earlier headed Iran’s Defense Ministry. He is also regarded as the first commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force and is a full member of the Expediency Discernment Council.
New IRGC navy, Basij chiefs
The reshuffle also extended to two other important components of Iran’s military and security structure.
Brigadier General Ali Ozmaei was appointed commander of the IRGC Navy. He previously served as deputy commander of the IRGC’s First Naval District before commanding the Fifth Naval District, headquartered in Bandar Lengeh in Hormozgan Province, and later becoming deputy commander of the IRGC Navy.
Cleric Hossein Taeb was meanwhile appointed head of the Basij Organization.
Taeb is a longtime figure within Iran’s security establishment and previously served as head of the IRGC Intelligence Organization, among other senior positions.
The appointments place new commanders at the head of institutions central to Iran’s conventional military structure, the IRGC and its naval forces, as well as the Basij.
Wider national security reshuffle
The appointments came one day after Khamenei named Major General Mohsen Rezaei as his representative to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and appointed outgoing SNSC secretary Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr as his political adviser.
President Masoud Pezeshkian separately appointed Rezaei as secretary of the SNSC, replacing Zolghadr.
The council is one of Iran’s principal national security decision-making institutions, responsible for coordinating defense, political, military, intelligence and economic matters related to national security.
Under Article 176 of Iran’s Constitution, the president chairs the SNSC, while its membership includes senior officials from the government, armed forces and IRGC. Its decisions take effect following approval by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution.
The succession of appointments represents a significant restructuring of Iran’s senior military and national security leadership as Tehran continues to confront US-Israeli aggression.
The changes also project institutional continuity, placing veteran military and security figures in pivotal positions and signalling that Tehran intends to maintain its current strategic course despite mounting external pressure.
(TPC, Al-Mayadeen, Iranian media)
