Iran's Supreme Leader Appoints Six New Military Commanders

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has appointed six new military commanders for the country’s armed forces, according to statements published on his website on Monday. In separate decrees, Khamenei named Ali Abdollahi as chief of staff of the armed forces, Ahmad Vahidi as commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Hossein Taeb as commander of the IRGC’s Basij volunteer force. He also appointed Ali Azmaei as commander of the IRGC Navy. The appointments follow the death of his father, former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and several senior military commanders in a joint Israeli-US strike on Tehran and other Iranian cities on 28 February. Iran responded to the attack with a series of missile and drone strikes targeting Israeli and US assets in the region. A ceasefire was reached on 8 April, and Iran and the US signed a memorandum of understanding in June to end the war on all fronts, including Lebanon. Both sides are scheduled to hold negotiations within 60 days to reach a final agreement, though recent regional escalations have cast uncertainty over the talks. President Masoud Pezeshkian stated earlier on Monday that Mojtaba Khamenei is in good health, despite the new supreme leader not having appeared in public since his selection in March.