Hossein Salami, who was appointed to steer the IRGC in 2019, among the many most senior figures killed by Israel.
Hossein Salami, the commander of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was among the many senior Iranian officers killed in Israel’s sweeping air strikes that started on Thursday.
A longtime confidant of Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Salami rose up the ranks in Iran, turning into head of the IRGC in 2019, when he changed Mohammad Ali Jafari.
Like a lot of his contemporaries, Salami’s youth got here in the course of the Iran-Iraq struggle that pitted the neighbours in opposition to one another and killed a whole bunch of 1000’s of individuals between 1980 and 1988.
Salami started his IRGC profession in the course of the struggle and is reported to have fought in a number of battles and held management positions.
His wartime expertise gave him a badge of legitimacy that was one of many causes he was then in a position to rise via the IRGC ranks. By 2005, Salami had been appointed as commander of the IRGC Aerospace Drive, the place he was chargeable for ballistic missile and drone improvement, earlier than being appointed deputy commander-in-chief of the IRGC in 2009.
Sanctions
As is the case for a lot of within the higher echelons of the Iranian navy equipment, Salami was topic to sanctions in 2007 by the USA for his function in missile improvement. The United Nations Safety Council additionally sanctioned him for a similar purpose the yr earlier than.
Salami was additionally topic to Canadian sanctions for his function in subduing antigovernment protests in 2022, whereas the European Union sanctioned him for his involvement in supplying drones to Russia for navy operations in Ukraine.
Throughout his management of the IRGC, Iran strengthened the so-called “Axis of Resistance”, a gaggle of allied international locations and teams throughout the Center East who had been funded or acted in coordination with the IRGC, together with Syria beneath the Bashar al-Assad regime, the Lebanese group Hezbollah, the Palestinian group Hamas, Yemen’s Houthi rebels and allied Shia teams in Iraq.
“We will struggle them [our enemies] on the worldwide stage, not simply in a single spot,” Salami was quoted as saying. “Our struggle will not be an area struggle. We now have plans to defeat the world powers.”
Loss of life
“With hearts crammed with sorrow and grief, we mourn the unjust martyrdom of the loyal and steadfast commander, Main-Common Hossein Salami, the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” the IRGC stated in an announcement reported by IRNA, the Iranian information company, on Friday.
Salami died in an air strike, in response to Iranian media. The assaults killed most of the high navy figures in Iran and notable nuclear scientists. Iran has responded by attacking Israel with ballistic missiles – the very weapon Salami had such an essential function in creating for the nation.
After Salami’s assassination, Ahmad Vahidi was introduced as his successor.
“On a human stage you’ll have gaps of data while you assassinate individuals who resolve navy technique, are fluent in a number of languages, have private networks and charisma inside the command chain,” Reza H Akbari, Center East and North Africa programme supervisor on the Institute for Battle and Peace Reporting, advised Al Jazeera.
“Nevertheless it’s troublesome to destroy an present construction that goes with present nuclear data and the command chain inside the navy and safety equipment of the nation.”