Iran Leader Appoints New Military Commanders

In a decree on Tuesday, the Leader appointed Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, an Army general, as the new Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces.

In another decree, Ayatollah Khamenei also appointed Brigadier General Gholam-Reza Soleimani as the new commander of IRGC’s Basij Organization.

The new commanders respectively replace Major General Ataollah Salehi and Brigadier General Gholam-Hossein Gheibparvar.

In the decrees, Ayatollah Khamenei appreciated the efforts made by former commanders in both positions and called on the new appointees to speed up efforts to ensure Iran’s security and use potentials of the young generation of Iran.

Basij is a paramilitary voluntary force established in 1979 on late founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini’s order.

The force consists of often young Iranians, who have volunteered, with a strong sense of fidelity to both the Islamic system and religious beliefs.

General Gheibparvar had been appointed as the Basij chief in December 2016. His predecessor, Mohammad-Reza Naqdi, had remained in the position for over seven years.