List of senior officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards

The following individuals have been identified as senior officers (currently or in the past) of Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution, an agency of the government of Iran.

Commanders

These people commanded the organization at one point in their careers:

(in chronological order)

*Mostafa Chamran "from 1980 to 1981"
*Mohsen Rezaee "from 1981 to 1997"
*Yahya Rahim Safavi "from 1997 to 2007", became senior military advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei [http://www.forbes.com/business/2007/09/01/iran-guards-khamenei-biz-cx_pm_0901guards.html] "Iran Replaces Revolutionary Guards' Head" by Forbes staff, article in "Forbes magazine", September 1, 2007]
*Mohammed Ali Jafari "appointed in 2007"cite news |title=Iran changes Revolutionary Guards commander |url=http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSBLA16539820070901?sp=true |work= Reuters online|publisher=Reuters |date=2007-09-01 |accessdate=2007-09-02 ]

Other senior officials

These people have been identified as senior members of the organization, either at present or at some point in the past:

(in alphabetical order)
* Alireza Afshar, a former IRGC officer, appointed by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as deputy interior minister for political affairs and head of the ministry's election headquarters. [http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/09/58297de1-5483-442f-98d9-e9bb64d94160.html] Sepehri, Vahid, "Iran: New Commander Takes Over Revolutionary Guards" article at the Web site of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, accessed October 17, 2007]
* Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran, "fought for the Revolutionary Guards during the 1980-1988 war with Iraq. After taking office in 2005 he promoted five former Guards into cabinet posts."
* Ahmad Reza Asghari, diplomat and former third secretary of the Iranian embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, also a delegate to a 2002 U.N. conference in Geneva, where he was listed as the Iranian foreign ministry's first secretary in the department for international economic affairs (also known as "Moshen Randjbaran", and not to be confused with Ali Reza AsghariStephens, Bret, "Global View" columnist on the editorial pages of "The Wall Street Journal", article titled, "Iran's al Qaeda", October 16, 2007; Page A20; ("All were, or are, senior officers in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.")]
* Ali Reza Asghari, a former IRGC commander who either defected or was kidnapped by a foreign intelligence service from Turkey in 2006, not to be confused with Ahmad Reza Asghari.
* Esmail Daghayeghi, founder of the Badr Corps, originally made up of Iraqi exiles in Iran; a member of the IRGC [ [http://www.rferl.org/features/features_Article.aspx?m=02&y=2007&id=36B123CE-693B-448E-BF7D-A541E2A7BD12] "Iran: Expert Discusses Iran's Quds Force And U.S. Charges Concerning Iraq", article at the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Web site, dated February 16, 2007, accessed October 17, 2007]
* Minojahar Frouzanda, general, the current head of intelligence for the IRGC. [http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2414760.ece "The botched US raid that led to the hostage crisis."] "The Independent". April 2, 2007. Retrieved April 2, 2007.]
* Mohammad Hejazi, brigadier general, Commander-in-chief of the Mobilized Basij forces [ [http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/world/iran/basij.htm] Global Security Web site, Niruyeh Moghavemat Basij Mobilisation Resistance Force]
* Abdol-Ali Najafi, brigadier general, Secret unit [ [http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=5997 Iran: New chief appointed for secretive military unit] ]
* Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, a former IRGC guardsman and, as of 2007, mayor of Tehran. [http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/09/58297de1-5483-442f-98d9-e9bb64d94160.html] Sepehri, Vahid, "Iran: New Commander Takes Over Revolutionary Guards" article at the Web site of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, accessed October 17, 2007]
* Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former president of Iran
* Morteza Saffari, rear admiral, Revolutionary Guards' Navy [ [http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=6475 Iran to hold large-scale naval war games] ]
* Hossein Salami, brigadier general, Revolutionary Guards' Air Force [http://www.khamenei.ir/EN/Message/detail.jsp?id=20060121A http://www.khamenei.ir/EN/Message/detail.jsp?id=20060121A] ]
* Mohsen Sazegara, IRGC founding member, exiled analyst
* Qassem Soleimani, brigadier general, Quds Force [ [http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3169 Iran Revolutionary Guards expect key changes in high command] ]
* Ahmad Vahidi, Iran's deputy defense minister, founder of the IRGC's "Lebanon Corps" in the 1980s, according to Iran analyst Alireza Jafarzadeh.
* Ali Akbar Velayati, former Iranian Foreign Minister
* Mohammad-Reza Zahedi, brigadier general, Revolutionary Guards' Ground Forces
* Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, former IRGC officer; as of 2007 a deputy interior minister and brother-in-law of IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari.

Notes