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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 officials 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, changing into head of the IRGC in 2019, when he changed Mohammad Ali Jafari.
Like lots of his contemporaries, Salami’s early life got here throughout the Iran-Iraq conflict that pitted the neighbours in opposition to one another and killed tons of of hundreds of individuals between 1980 and 1988.
Salami started his IRGC profession throughout the conflict 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 by way of the IRGC ranks. By 2005, Salami had been appointed as commander of the IRGC Aerospace Drive, the place he was accountable for ballistic missile and drone growth, 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 america for his position in missile growth. The United Nations Safety Council additionally sanctioned him for a similar motive the yr earlier than.
Salami was additionally topic to Canadian sanctions for his position 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 bunch of allied nations and teams throughout the Center East who had been funded or acted in coordination with the IRGC, together with Syria underneath 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 degree, not simply in a single spot,” Salami was quoted as saying. “Our conflict shouldn’t be an area conflict. We’ve got plans to defeat the world powers.”
Demise
“With hearts full of 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 a press release reported by IRNA, the Iranian information company, on Friday.
Salami died in an air strike, in line with Iranian media. The assaults killed lots of the prime navy figures in Iran and notable nuclear scientists. Iran has responded by attacking Israel with ballistic missiles – the very weapon Salami had such an vital position in growing for the nation.
After Salami’s assassination, Ahmad Vahidi was introduced as his successor.
“On a human degree you’ll have gaps of information whenever you assassinate individuals who resolve navy technique, are fluent in a number of languages, have private networks and charisma throughout the command chain,” Reza H Akbari, Center East and North Africa programme supervisor on the Institute for Struggle and Peace Reporting, instructed Al Jazeera.
“However it’s tough to destroy an current construction that goes with current nuclear data and the command chain throughout the navy and safety equipment of the nation.”
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