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Khamenei Appoints New Army Commanders


Iranian Army's top commanders in an meeting with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, on Wednesday April 19, 2017.
Iranian Army's top commanders in an meeting with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, on Wednesday April 19, 2017.

Less than a year after appointing Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan as Deputy Chief Commander of Iranian Army, the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed and replaced him with Brigadier General Mohammad Hossein Dadras, on Sunday, October 5.

An Iran-Iraq war veteran Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, 61, served as Chief Commander of Iranian Army’s Ground Forces for nearly two decades before being appointed as second-in-command of the army in October 2016.

In his decree, ayatollah Khamenei has thanked Pourdastan without offering him a new position.

Pourdastan, one of the most vociferous commanders of Iranian Army, was a newsmaker who loved to echo Khamenei’s remarks about Israel.

In a tweet on September 9, 2015 Khamenei addressing Israel said "you will not see the next 25 years; God willing, there will be nothing as a Zionist regime in 25 years. Second, until then, struggling, heroic and jihadi morale will leave no moment of peace for Zionists”.

A month later, in an interview with Al Alam TV channel, Pourdastan maintained that the Islamic Republic’s regime is “longing for Israel to take action [against Iran], so that we would turn the supreme leader’s remarks into reality as soon as possible.”

Dadras, the new deputy chief commander served as commander of ground forces for three years, a decade ago.

As the Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Republic’s Armed Forces Khamenei, in two separate decrees has also appointed Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi in charge of the Navy, replacing the former long-serving Navy commander, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari.

Furthermore, Khamenei appointed the former Navy Chief as deputy coordinator of Iranian Army.

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