Vahidi Takes Guard Command, Abdollahi Named Chief of Staff

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has a new commander as of Monday: Ahmad Vahidi. Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei signed six separate decrees on August 10 covering appointments across the armed forces’ Joint Staff, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Basij, marking the first major military appointments since he succeeded his father as supreme leader, who was killed in US-Israeli strikes. For Serbia this is not a distant personnel story: the decrees land in the middle of a crisis in the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s negotiations with Washington, and Serbia imports most of its oil.

Ali Abdollahi, a Revolutionary Guard officer who until his appointment led the Khatam al-Anbia central headquarters, an inter-service command responsible for coordinating Iranian military operations, was named chief of the armed forces’ Joint Staff. His deputy is Qiyumars Heydari.

A statement on the supreme leader’s official website announced the appointments without preamble or explanation:

“Major General Ali Abdollahi has been appointed chief of the armed forces’ Joint Staff. Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi has been appointed commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, with the rank of major general.”

The same decree both promoted and appointed Vahidi, elevating him from brigadier general to major general.

Six Names, Three Commands

The decrees were published separately but on the same day, covering three distinct chains of command:

• Ali Abdollahi, chief of the armed forces’ Joint Staff
• Qiyumars Heydari, deputy chief of the Joint Staff
• Ahmad Vahidi, commander of the Revolutionary Guard, with the rank of major general
• Mostafa Izadi, deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guard
• Ali Azmai, rear admiral, commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s navy
• Hossein Taeb, head of the Basij volunteer resistance force

The Revolutionary Guard’s navy is a separate formation from the navy of the regular armed forces. Taeb is the only one of the six identified in the statement by a religious title rather than a military rank: hojjatoleslam val-muslimin.

Why Is Rezaei Back?

A day before the military decrees, on Sunday, Khamenei appointed Mohsen Rezaei as his representative to the Supreme National Security Council, replacing Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr. Rezaei is a former Revolutionary Guard commander, from the same generation of officers as Vahidi. The decree reads:

“Dr. Mohsen Rezaei, in view of your valuable experience, I hereby appoint you as my representative to the Supreme National Security Council.”

Before Zolghadr, that seat belonged to Ali Larijani, killed in the US-Israeli strikes in March. In the span of five months, Tehran has now changed, twice, the person who represents the supreme leader on the body that decides on war and negotiations.

What the Choice of Personnel Signals

Abdollahi is not an unfamiliar name outside Iran. Earlier this month he issued a warning to the region’s neighbors:

“Any country that serves as a defensive shield for criminal, aggressive America will be engulfed in the flames of war.”

The same line is now coming from the chief of the Joint Staff, not from the commander of one inter-service command. The difference lies in who is saying it and with what authority.

Alongside the appointments, a message about the supreme leader’s health also came out of Tehran. President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday, according to the ISNA news agency, that Khamenei is “completely healthy” and that a meeting with him had gone “well.” The message went out the same day as the decrees.

For Belgrade and the region, the question is practical rather than symbolic. European policy toward the Gulf and the sanctions regime on Iran are written in Brussels, but enforced against specific people and specific commands, and as of Monday those commands are in different hands. The appointments were announced solely through a statement on the supreme leader’s website, with no public appearance by the new military leadership. The first real test for Abdollahi and Vahidi is the strait that has already been at the center of the crisis for weeks.