Over the past two days, Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has appointed veteran commanders to some of the country’s most powerful military and security posts, turning to officials who spent decades in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the security establishment under his father, longtime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
The appointments, which were made without the younger Khamenei making a public appearance, fill critical vacancies left by the deaths of senior commanders in U.S.-Israeli strikes at the start of the war in late February. They come as Tehran confronts big decisions over the war with the United States, the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz and negotiations with Washington, as well as security challenges at home.
The choices offer an indication of how Tehran may approach the conflict and diplomacy with the United States, particularly as Iran insists on maintaining control over the Strait of Hormuz in the face of American opposition.
According to official statements, Khamenei appointed Hossein Taeb to lead the Basij, the paramilitary mobilization force, and named Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi commander in chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the United States has designated a foreign terrorist organization.
Vahidi has been a member of the Revolutionary Guards since its early years following the 1979 Islamic Revolution. He commanded the Quds Force before Qassem Soleimani, serving in that role until 1997, and was defense minister under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from 2009 to 2013.
The United States and the European Union imposed sanctions on Vahidi over Iran’s deadly crackdown on nationwide protests in 2022 that followed the death of Mahsa Amini after she was arrested for not wearing a hijab.
Argentina’s highest criminal court has formally accused Vahidi in connection with the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, and Argentina has sought his arrest through Interpol.
Taeb is a longtime hardliner within the Revolutionary Guards who has held some of Iran’s most sensitive security positions. He previously commanded the Basij before becoming the first head of the Revolutionary Guards’ Intelligence Organization in 2009, following the disputed presidential election and the mass protests that followed.
Taeb became closely associated with the government’s efforts to suppress dissent and protect Iran’s ruling political establishment. The United States imposed sanctions on him in September 2010 over his alleged role in human rights abuses.
The new appointments also include Rear Adm. Ali Azmaei as commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ naval forces, which have been responsible for attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman.
Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi was named chief of staff of the armed forces and Brig. Gen. Kioumars Heydari was appointed deputy chief of staff.
Abdollahi is a veteran Iranian commander with a long career in the Revolutionary Guards and the country’s security establishment. He has held senior positions, including command of the Quds Corps in Gilan Province and senior posts in the Guards’ ground forces. Since 2025, he has headed the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, Iran’s principal military command center for planning and directing major operations.
The appointments fill key posts that remained vacant after senior security commanders were killed in U.S.-Israeli strikes nearly six months ago.
Ilya Jazaeri, a journalist with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, told MBN that Vahidi had effectively been leading the Revolutionary Guards since the previous commander, Mohammad Pakpour, was killed in the strikes, and that the latest announcement formalized his position.
Jazaeri said Taeb’s return to the Basij reflected the Iranian government’s determination to continue using the force to suppress dissent.
The appointments are the first formal changes Mojtaba Khamenei has made to the leadership of Iran’s main military and security institutions since succeeding his father, who was killed in U.S.-Israeli strikes on Tehran on Feb. 28.
The move, Jazaeri said, reflects an effort to consolidate Mojtaba Khamenei’s rule while signaling that the next phase under his leadership will not depart significantly from his father’s broader policies. The same figures who wielded military and security influence under the elder Khamenei are now being entrusted with leading the new era.
Before the latest appointments, Khamenei’s most significant personnel decision had been to name Mohsen Rezaei secretary-general of the Supreme National Security Council and the supreme leader’s representative on the body.
Rezaei belongs to a generation of Revolutionary Guard commanders who emerged from clandestine revolutionary organizations active before the fall of the shah in 1979. Several later became prominent figures in Iran’s security establishment.
Rezaei, who has been under U.S. sanctions since 2019, is the longest-serving commander in the history of the Revolutionary Guards. He led the force during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s and has run for president several times.
Rezaei’s recent statements offer another indication of the direction Tehran may take. He has vowed that Iran will make no concessions over the Strait of Hormuz.
On Tuesday he said he had sent Khamenei a message of thanks in which he pledged that Iran “will not retreat” and would make decisions “with greater resolve than before,” according to Iranian news agencies.
Vahidi has taken a similar position, rejecting compromise with the United States.
The statements suggest that Khamenei is preparing for confrontation with President Donald Trump, who is seeking Iranian concessions over Tehran’s nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz.
Peter Humphrey, an international affairs analyst and former U.S. diplomat, said Trump appeared increasingly close to ordering a broader attack as Iran continued to reject concessions and impose conditions on the United States.
Such an attack, Humphrey said, could include operations targeting Iran’s senior leadership and infrastructure, and possibly a surprise assault on the oil-rich Kharg Island followed by a ground landing.
Although Humphrey questioned whether Khamenei was capable of overseeing a sweeping restructuring of the state, he said the latest appointments put experienced figures trusted by the establishment at the helm of the institutions that wield much of the country’s power.
The return of these figures, Humphrey said, underscores how much the current leadership depends on the old guard for its security expertise and combat experience.
That dynamic is also expected to shape negotiations with Washington, which have swung sharply amid disagreements between Iran’s political leadership and its security establishment over the broader conduct of the war.
Adapted and translated from the original Arabic.
