In a decree issued by the clerical regime’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, Ali Fadavi, a former naval commander of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), is designated as the force’s new deputy commander.
The European Union and the United States have blacklisted Fadavi for his role in Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.
Fadavi had earlier threatened to attack US ships in the Arabian Gulf and claimed that in the case of a military war with the U.S., the IRGC would destroy the US Navy.
In another decree, Khamenei designated Mohammad Reza Naghdi as the deputy IRGC coordinator officer. The US has also blacklisted Naghdi from 2011 onward for human rights violations.
It should be noted that following the FTO designation of the IRGC by the US State Department, Khamenei removed Jafari as the head of the IRGC and promoted Hossein Salami as the new chief on April 21. Salami was a brigadier and was promoted to the rank of major general before he could occupy the post.
Jafari was also assigned as caretaker of the IRGC’s so-called “Social-Cultural Division.”