List of commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

The following individuals have been identified as senior officers (currently or in the past) of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is a part of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Commanders-in-Chief

Javad Mansouri was IRGC's "first unofficial commander"^[1] and acting during its "early formative phase".^[2] Abbas Agha-Zamani, however is considered the "first official operational commander" and was appointed by the Commander-in-Chief.^[1]

No.	Commander-in-Chief	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref.
–	Mansouri, JavadJavad Mansouri Acting	March 1979	May 1979	3 months	^[2]
–	Chamran, MostafaMostafa Chamran (1932–1981) Acting	Summer 1979	Summer 1979	de facto officeholder	^[2]
–	Rafsanjani, AkbarAkbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (1934–2017) Acting	August 1979	August 1979	less than a month	^[2]^[1]
–	Lahouti, HassanHassan Lahouti Acting	October 1979	November 1979	2 months	^[1]
–	Kian, FereydounLieutenant colonel Fereydoun Kian Acting	late 1979	late 1979	Unknown	^[2]
–	Khamenei, AliAli Khamenei (born 1939) Acting	24 November 1979	24 February 1980	92 days	^[1]
–	Duzduzani, AbbasAbbas Duzduzani (born 1942) Acting	1980	1980	Unknown	^[1]^[3]
1	Agha-Zamani, AbbasAbbas Agha-Zamani	2 June 1980	27 June 1980	25 days	^[4]
2	Rezaee, MortezaMorteza Rezaee [fa]	22 July 1980	20 September 1981	1 year, 60 days	^[4]
3	Rezaee, MohsenMajor general Mohsen Rezaee (born 1954)	20 September 1981	19 September 1997	15 years, 364 days	^[4]
4	Safavi, Yahya RahimMajor general Yahya Rahim Safavi (born 1952)	19 September 1997	10 September 2007	9 years, 356 days	^[4]
5	Jafari, Mohammad AliMajor general Mohammad Ali Jafari (born 1957)	10 September 2007	21 April 2019	11 years, 223 days	^[4]
6	Salami, HosseinBrigadier general Hossein Salami (born 1960)	21 April 2019	Incumbent	5 years, 43 days	^[5]

Deputy Commanders-in-Chief

No.	Deputy Commander-in-Chief	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref.
1	Kolahdouz, YousefYousef Kolahdouz (1946–1981)	July 1980	29 September 1981	1 year, 90 days	^[6]
2	Shamkhani, AliAli Shamkhani (born 1955)	June 1982	24 September 1989	7 years, 115 days	^[2]^[7]
3	Safavi, Yahya RahimYahya Rahim Safavi (born 1952)	24 September 1989	10 September 1997	7 years, 351 days	^{[citation needed]}
4	Bagher Zolghadr, MohammadBrigadier general Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr (born c. 1954/1955)	13 September 1997	30 April 2006	8 years, 229 days	^{[citation needed]}
5	Rezaee, MortezaMorteza Rezaee [fa]	30 April 2006	22 May 2008	2 years, 22 days	^{[citation needed]}
6	Hejazi, MohammadBrigadier general Mohammad Hejazi (born 1956)	22 May 2008	4 October 2009	1 year, 135 days	^{[citation needed]}
7	Salami, HosseinBrigadier general Hossein Salami (born 1960)	4 October 2009	21 April 2019	9 years, 199 days	^{[citation needed]}
8	Fadavi, AliCommodore Ali Fadavi (born 1961)	16 May 2019	Incumbent	5 years, 18 days	^{[citation needed]}

Chiefs of the Joint Staff

No.	Chief	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref.
1	Afshar, AlirezaBrigadier general Alireza Afshar (born c. 1951)	1984	1987	2–3 years	–
2	Forouzandeh, MohammadMohammad Forouzandeh (born 1960)	1987	1989	1–2 years	–
3	Zolghadr, Mohammad BagherBrigadier general Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr (born c. 1954/1955)	1989	1997	7–8 years	–
4	Alaei, HosseinBrigadier general Hossein Alaei	1997	2000	2–3 years	–
5	Ahmadian, Ali AkbarAli Akbar Ahmadian	2000	2007	6–7 years	–
6	Hejazi, MohammadBrigadier general Mohammad Hejazi (born 1956)	2007	2008	0–1 years	–

Commanders of military branches

Ground Forces

No.	Commander	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref.
1	Safavi, Yahya RahimMajor general Yahya Rahim Safavi (born 1952)	1985	1989	3–4 years	–
2	Izadi, MostafaMajor general Mostafa Izadi	1989	1992	2–3 years	–
3	Jafari, Mohammad AliMajor general Mohammad Ali Jafari (born 1957)	1992	2005	12–13 years	–
4	Kazemi, AhmadBrigadier general Ahmad Kazemi (1958–2006)	2005	9 January 2006 †	0–1 years	^[8]
5	Zahedi, Mohammad RezaBrigadier general Mohammad Reza Zahedi (born 1944)	2006	2008	1–2 years	–
6	Asadi, Mohammad JafarMohammad Jafar Asadi (born 1958)	2008	2009	0–1 years	–
7	Pakpour, MohammadBrigadier general Mohammad Pakpour	2009	Incumbent	14–15 years	–

Aerospace Force

No.	Portrait	Commander	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref.
1		Refan, MousaMousa Refan (born 1958)	1985	1990	4–5 years	–
2		Dehghan, HosseinBrigadier general Hossein Dehghan (born 1957)	1990	1991	0–1 years	–
3	Mohammad Hossein Jalali	Jalali, Mohammad HosseinBrigadier general Mohammad Hossein Jalali	1991	1997	5–6 years	–
4		Ghalibaf, Mohammad BagherBrigadier general Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (born 1961)	1997	2000	2–3 years	–
5		Kazemi, AhmadBrigadier general Ahmad Kazemi (1958–2006)	2000	2005	4–5 years	–
6		Zahedi, Mohammad RezaBrigadier general Mohammad Reza Zahedi (born 1944)	2005	2006	0–1 years	–
7		Salami, HosseinBrigadier general Hossein Salami (born 1960)	2006	2009	2–3 years	–
8		Hajizadeh, Amir-AliBrigadier general Amir-Ali Hajizadeh (born 1962)	2009	Incumbent	14–15 years	–

Navy

No.	Commander	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref.
1	Alaei, HosseinBrigadier general Hossein Alaei	1985	1990	4–5 years	–
2	Shamkhani, AliRear admiral Ali Shamkhani (born 1955)	1990	1997	6–7 years	–
3	Ahmadian, Ali AkbarAli Akbar Ahmadian	1997	2000	2–3 years	–
4	Saffari, MortezaMorteza Saffari	2000	2010	9–10 years	–
5	Fadavi, AliCommodore Ali Fadavi (born 1961)	2010	2018	7–8 years	–
6	Tangsiri, AlirezaCommodore Alireza Tangsiri (born 1962)	2018	Incumbent	5–6 years	–

Quds Force

No.	Commander	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref.
1	Vahidi, AhmadBrigadier general Ahmad Vahidi (born 1958)	1988	1998	9–10 years	–
2	Soleimani, QasemMajor general Qasem Soleimani (1957–2020)	21 March 1998	3 January 2020 †	21 years, 288 days	^[9]^[10]
3	Ghaani, EsmailBrigadier general Esmail Ghaani (born 1957)	3 January 2020	Incumbent	4 years, 152 days	^[11]

Basij

No.	Commander	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref.
1	Rahmani, Mohammad-AliMohammad-Ali Rahmani	1984	1990	5–6 years	–
2	Afshar, AlirezaBrigadier general Alireza Afshar (born c. 1951)	1990	1998	7–8 years	–
3	Hejazi, MohammadBrigadier general Mohammad Hejazi (born 1956)	1998	2007	8–9 years	–
4	Taeb, HosseinHossein Taeb (born 1963)	2007	2009	1–2 years	–
5	Naqdi, Mohammad RezaBrigadier general Mohammad Reza Naqdi (born c. 1952 or 1961)	2009	2016	6–7 years	–
6	Gheybparvar, GholamhosseinBrigadier general Gholamhossein Gheybparvar	2016	2019	2–3 years	–
7	Soleimani, GholamrezaBrigadier general Gholamreza Soleimani	2019	Incumbent	4–5 years	–

Chairmen of intelligence agencies

No.	Chairman	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref.
Intelligence Organization
1	Taeb, HosseinHossein Taeb (born 1963)	2009	Incumbent	14–15 years	–
Intelligence Protection Organization
1	Shahroudi, Ali SaeediAli Saeedi Shahroudi	1984	1994	9–10 years	–
2	Rezaee, MortezaBrigadier general Morteza Rezaee	1994	2006	11–12 years	–
3	Ramezani, Gholam-HosseinGholam-Hossein Ramezani	2006	2008	1–2 years	–
4	Kazemi, MohammadBrigadier general Mohammad Kazemi	2008	Incumbent	15–16 years	–

Supreme Leader Representatives

No.	Representative	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref.
1	Lahouti, HassanHassan Lahouti	1979	1979	0 years	–
2	Mahallati, FazlollahFazlollah Mahallati	1980	1981	0–1 years	–
3	Taheri-Khorramabadi, HassanHassan Taheri-Khorramabadi	1981	1982	0–1 years	–
4	Faker, Mohammad-RezaMohammad-Reza Faker	1982	1983	0–1 years	–
(2)	Mahallati, FazlollahFazlollah Mahallati	1983	1986	2–3 years	–
5	Nouri, AbdollahAbdollah Nouri (born 1950)	1989	1990	0–1 years	–
6	Mohammadi-Araghi, MahmoudMahmoud Mohammadi-Araghi	1990	1991	0–1 years	–
7	Movahedi-Kermani, AliAli Movahedi-Kermani (born 1931)	1991	2006	14–15 years	–
8	Saeedi Shahroudi, AliAli Saeedi Shahroudi	2006	2018	11–12 years	–
9	Hajisadeghi, AbdollahAbdollah Hajisadeghi	2018	Incumbent	5–6 years	–

Ministers

No.	Portrait	Minister	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref.
1		Rafighdoost, MohsenMohsen Rafighdoost (born 1940)	November 1982	20 September 1988	5 years, 324 days	–
2		Shamkhani, AliAli Shamkhani (born 1955)	20 September 1988	21 August 1989	335 days	–

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Steven O'Hern (2012). Iran's Revolutionary Guard: The Threat That Grows While America Sleeps. Potomac Books, Inc. pp. 18, 22–23. ISBN 978-1597977012.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Nikola B. Schahgaldian, Gina Barkhordarian (March 1987), The Iranian Military Under the Islamic Republic (PDF), RAND, p. 118, ISBN 978-0-8330-0777-3, retrieved 15 January 2017
^ Sinkaya, Bayram (2015), The Revolutionary Guards in Iranian Politics: Elites and Shifting Relations, Routledge, pp. 96–97, ISBN 978-1317525646
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Forozan, Hesam (2015), The Military in Post-Revolutionary Iran: The Evolution and Roles of the Revolutionary Guards, Routledge, Table 2.1: Commander-in-Chief of the Sepah Since 1979, p 59, ISBN 9781317430742
^ Gladstone, Rick. "Iran's Supreme Leader Replaces Head of Revolutionary Guards". NYT. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
^ Allamian, Saeed (2016). I say for the history: Memories of Mohsen Rafighdoust (in Persian). Soore-ye Mehr. p. 127. ISBN 9786000302931. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
^ Katzman, Kenneth (September 1993). "The Pasdaran: institutionalization of revolutionary armed force". Iranian Studies. 26 (3–4): 389–402. doi:10.1080/00210869308701809.
^ "Plane crash kills Iran commander". BBC News. 9 January 2006. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
^ Alfoneh, Ali (January 2011). "Brigadier General Qassem Suleimani: A Biography" (PDF). Middle Eastern Outlook. 1: 2 of 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
^ "Iran Confirms Death of Powerful Revolutionary Guard Commander". The New York Times. 3 January 2020.
^ "Iran names deputy commander of Quds force to replace Soleimani after killing". CNBC. 2020-01-03. Retrieved 2020-01-03.

External links

[pb-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Steven O'Hern (2012). Iran's Revolutionary Guard: The Threat That Grows While America Sleeps. Potomac Books, Inc. pp. 18, 22–23. ISBN 978-1597977012.

[R-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Nikola B. Schahgaldian, Gina Barkhordarian (March 1987), The Iranian Military Under the Islamic Republic (PDF), RAND, p. 118, ISBN 978-0-8330-0777-3, retrieved 15 January 2017

[b-3] Sinkaya, Bayram (2015), The Revolutionary Guards in Iranian Politics: Elites and Shifting Relations, Routledge, pp. 96–97, ISBN 978-1317525646

[F-4] Forozan, Hesam (2015), The Military in Post-Revolutionary Iran: The Evolution and Roles of the Revolutionary Guards, Routledge, Table 2.1: Commander-in-Chief of the Sepah Since 1979, p 59, ISBN 9781317430742

[NYT2019-5] Gladstone, Rick. "Iran's Supreme Leader Replaces Head of Revolutionary Guards". NYT. Retrieved 21 April 2019.

[6] Allamian, Saeed (2016). I say for the history: Memories of Mohsen Rafighdoust (in Persian). Soore-ye Mehr. p. 127. ISBN 9786000302931. Retrieved 8 November 2017.

[Katzman-7] Katzman, Kenneth (September 1993). "The Pasdaran: institutionalization of revolutionary armed force". Iranian Studies. 26 (3–4): 389–402. doi:10.1080/00210869308701809.

[8] "Plane crash kills Iran commander". BBC News. 9 January 2006. Retrieved 25 December 2011.

[9] Alfoneh, Ali (January 2011). "Brigadier General Qassem Suleimani: A Biography" (PDF). Middle Eastern Outlook. 1: 2 of 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2013.

[10] "Iran Confirms Death of Powerful Revolutionary Guard Commander". The New York Times. 3 January 2020.

[11] "Iran names deputy commander of Quds force to replace Soleimani after killing". CNBC. 2020-01-03. Retrieved 2020-01-03.

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v t e Commanders of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Commander-in-Chief	Agha-Zamani (1980) Morteza Rezaee (1980) Mohsen Rezaee (1980–97) Safavi (1997–07) Jafari (2007–19) Salami (2019–present)
Chief of Joint Staff	Afshar (1984–87) Forouzandeh (1987–89) Zolghadr (1989–97) Alaei (1997–00) Ahmadian (2000–07) Hejazi (2007–08)
Ground Force	Safavi (1985–89) Izadi (1989–92) Jafari (1992–05) Kazemi (2005–06) Zahedi (2006–08) Asadi (2008–09) Pakpour (2009–present)
Aerospace Force	Refan (1985–90) Dehghan (1990–91) Jalali (1991–97) Ghalibaf (1997–00) Kazemi (2000–05) Zahedi (2005–06) Salami (2006–09) Hajizadeh (2009–present)
Navy	Alaei (1985–90) Shamkhani (1990–97) Ahmadian (1997–00) Saffari (2000–10) Fadavi (2010–18) Tangsiri (2018–present)
Quds Force	Vahidi (1988–98) Soleimani (1998–2020) Qaani (2020–present)
Mobilization Force	Rahmani (1984–90) Afshar (1990–98) Hejazi (1998–07) Taeb (2007–09) Naqdi (2009–16) Gheybparvar (2016–19) Soleimani (2019–present)
Intelligence	Taeb (2009–22) Kazemi (2022–present)
Intelligence Protection	Saeedi (1984–94) Morteza Rezaee (1994–06) Ramezani (2006–08) Kazemi (2008–22)
Supreme Leader Representative	Lahouti (1979) Mahallati (1980–81; 1983–86) Taheri (1981–82) Faker (1982–83) Nouri (1989–90) Mohammadi (1990–91) Movahedi (1991–06) Saeedi (2006–18) Hajisadeghi (2018–present)
Ministers	Rafighdoost (1982–88) Shamkhani (1988–89)
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sardars