Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander-in-Chief Ahmad Vahidi attends a public farewell ceremony to pay his respects to the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28 in Israeli and US airstrikes, at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla, in Tehran, Iran, July 5, 2026. ReutersShow caption: Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander-in-Chief …Appointments come amid a standoff between Iran and the US over reopening the Strait of HormuzIran's supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has appointed six senior commanders to key positions in the country's armed forces, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Basij, according to decrees published by his office on Monday.Under the decrees, Maj Gen Ali Abdollahi was named as chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, replacing Lt Gen Abdul Rahim Mousavi, who was killed in US-Israeli strikes at the start of the Iran war on February 28. Brig Gen Kiumars Heidari was named as deputy chief of staff of the armed forces.Brig Gen Ahmad Vahidi was promoted to the rank of major general and appointed commander-in-chief of the IRGC, replacing Lt Gen Mohammad Pakpour, while Maj Gen Mostafa Izadi was appointed deputy commander-in-chief of the paramilitary force.Lt Gen Pakpour was also killed in February 28 air strikes targeting Iran's military leadership. Rear Admiral Ali Ozmaei was appointed commander of the IRGC Navy, replacing Alireza Tangsiri, who was killed in an Israeli air strike in March. Former IRGC intelligence chief Hossein Taeb was named as head of the Basij Organisation, the paramilitary's volunteer force.Mr Khamenei called for strengthening the armed forces' capabilities and readiness, developing their ability to respond to conventional and emerging military threats, and completing the planned merger of the Armed Forces General Staff and the Khatam Al Anbiya Central Headquarters.Mr Khamenei instructed Maj Gen Vahidi to strengthen the IRGC's deterrence capabilities and prepare it for what he described as "powerful offensive operations against the enemy".On Sunday, Mr Khamenei appointed Mohsen Rezaei, a former head of the IRGC, as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.Mr Rezaei replaces Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr as second-in-command of the body that co-ordinates ⁠Iran's security and foreign policy and is chaired by President Masoud ​Pezeshkian. Mr Zolghadr was appointed as political adviser to Mr Khamenei.Mr Rezaei, 71, commanded Iran's Islamic Revolutionary ​Guards Corps from 1981 to 1997, including during much of ​the Iran-Iraq war. ‌He later served as secretary of Iran's Expediency Discernment Council for more than two ⁠decades and as vice president for economic affairs from 2021 to 2023 ⁠under the hardline president Ebrahim Raisi.Updated: August 10, 2026, 4:46 PM