Iran · 10 August, 2026 · 3 min read
Mojtaba Khamenei Appoints Ahmad Vahidi IRGC Commander-In-Chief, Orders Offensive Operations
Ahmad Vahidi appointed IRGC commander-in-chief by Khamenei. Khamenei orders IRGC to strengthen deterrence and prepare for powerful offensive operations.
Whether the decrees leave intelligence leadership gaps and which were noted.
9 of 11 outlets skipped it: khamenei appointed Mohsen Rezaei NSC secretary.
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Howl.link
“Remaining gaps Neither of the IRGC’s two principal intelligence bodies has a publicly announced permanent chief.”Read the original ↗
Iran International
“Leaving several of most sensitive intelligence posts without publicly named permanent chiefs.”Read the original ↗
Only some outlets spell out additional missing chiefs beyond the two IRGC intelligence bodies.
Khamenei reshuffles top posts
Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued an appointment decree on Monday naming Ahmad Vahidi as commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and promoting him to the rank of major general, while also urging him to prepare the IRGC for “powerful offensive operations against the enemy.” The decree also appointed Ali Abdollahi as chief of staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, with former Army Ground Forces commander Kioumars Heydari named his deputy, and it named Mostafa Izadi as deputy commander-in-chief of the IRGC. In the same reshuffle, Khamenei formally appointed Rear Admiral Ali Azmaei as commander of the IRGC Navy and named Hossein Taeb as commander of the Basij paramilitary force, with the decrees confirming positions that had already been publicly presented without published orders.
The appointments were described as filling vacancies created by US-Israeli strikes since the war began on February 28, including the killing of Abdolrahim Mousavi alongside Pakpour and Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh on the opening day of the war. Kashmir Observer also said the reshuffle came “following the deaths of several senior officers during the recent conflict with the United States and Israel,” and it described Vahidi, 67, as a former interior minister and defence minister.
Competing accounts of gaps
Iran International said the decrees “formalizing parts of a wartime leadership structure” while leaving “several of most sensitive intelligence posts without publicly named permanent chiefs,” including the IRGC Intelligence Organization and its Intelligence Protection Organization. IIt reported that Majid Khademi, who headed the IRGC Intelligence Organization and its Intelligence Protection Organization, was killed in an April 6 strike in Tehran, and it added that no permanent replacement had been publicly announced for Gholamreza Rezaeian, head of the police Intelligence Organization, who was killed in the opening US-Israeli strikes. The same report said the decrees “settle some of the most consequential vacancies created by US-Israeli strikes since the war began on February 28,” while still leaving two other sensitive posts within the Armed Forces General Staff without publicly announced permanent successors for more than a year.
In a separate framing, Kashmir Observer said Khamenei instructed Vahidi to maintain “maximum deterrence” and ensure readiness for “powerful offensive operations” against adversaries, and it quoted the promotion as coming in view of Pakpour’s “honourable and proud martyrdom.” The New York Times reported that Iran is replacing its top national security adviser with Mohsen Rezaei, saying a spokesman for President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on social media that Rezaei would be the new secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.
What the reshuffle changes
The reshuffle was presented as part of Iran’s effort to rebuild its military command structure after heavy wartime losses, with Kashmir Observer saying the appointments “signalling Tehran’s effort to rebuild its military command structure after heavy wartime losses.” Howl.link said the decrees “settle some of the most consequential vacancies created by US-Israeli strikes since the war began on February 28,” and it added that Abdollahi replaces Abdolrahim Mousavi, who was killed alongside Pakpour and Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh in strikes on the opening day of the war. HIt also described Abdollahi as having been serving as commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, “the joint operational command responsible for coordinating Iran’s armed forces in wartime,” and it said he oversaw a command central to Iran’s missile operations and its use of the Strait of Hormuz as military leverage.
Kashmir Observer further said Khamenei directed Abdollahi to enhance Iran’s defence capabilities and prepare the armed forces to respond to conventional, cognitive and hybrid threats, while it described the integration between the General Staff and the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters as part of the decree. Al Jazeera Net reported that the Supreme Leader said, “Continuous and comprehensive development of military capabilities aims to strengthen deterrence and readiness for offensive operations against the enemy,” tying the leadership changes to deterrence and readiness for offensive operations.