Aug 10 (Reuters) – Iran has appointed Mohsen Rezaei as secretary of its Supreme Nationwide Safety Council, selling a outstanding hardliner and shut ally of Supreme Chief Ayatollah MojtabaKhamenei to the function greater than 5 months into the battle with america.
Rezaei replaces Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr as second-in-command of the physique that coordinates Iran’s safety and overseas coverage and is chaired by President Masoud Pezeshkian. Zolqadr was appointed as political adviser to Khamenei.
This is what you should learn about Rezaei, 71:
COMMANDED REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS AGED 27
Rezaei joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and have become its commander in 1981 aged 27. He led the IRGC for 16 years, together with for many of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq warfare, and oversaw the enlargement of its floor, naval and air capabilities.
He’s a part of a era of IRGC commanders who emerged from the revolutionary underground and later grew to become senior figures in Iran’s safety equipment.
A outstanding determine within the nation’s political and safety institution since leaving his function as IRGC commander, he has been a perennial candidate for president of the Islamic Republic. He served as vice chairman for financial affairs from 2021 to 2023 below hardline President Ebrahim Raisi.
He holds a doctorate in economics from the College of Tehran.
ADVISER TO MOJTABA
Rezaei was appointed navy adviser toKhamenei in March after he took over as Iran’s Supreme Chief, changing his father, the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli warfare on Iran.
He has made frequent public statements through the warfare, voicing deep skepticism about negotiations and threatening america.
In April, Rezaei mentioned it could be “nice” if the U.S. launched a floor invasion of Iran, as “we might take hundreds of hostages after which for every hostage we might get a billion {dollars}”. “I’m not in favour of extending the ceasefire in any respect, and it is a private view,” he mentioned on the time.
In June, earlier than Iran signed a memorandum of understanding aimed toward ending the warfare on June 17, Rezaei mentioned the settlement had ambiguities that wanted to be clarified. On June 27, he accusedWashington of violating the deal by creating tensions within the Strait of Hormuz.
Reflecting his shut ties to Mojtaba, the Supreme Chief issued a decree on Sunday appointing Rezaei as his consultant on the SNSC.Khamenei cited Rezaei’s “useful expertise” within the appointment, together with his lengthy navy profession.
OPPOSED THE SHAH
Rezaei was lively within the opposition to the Pahlavi monarchy, which was overthrown in 1979, whereas nonetheless a teen, and imprisoned by the Shah’s safety service, SAVAK, in 1973.
He helped set up and develop the Mansouroun militant group, which was lively in opposition to the monarchy within the Seventies. Members of the group who have been imprisoned collectively, together with Rezaei, later fashioned a part of the senior management of the IRGC.
CONTROVERSY OVER RECORD IN IRAN-IRAQ WAR
His file through the Iran-Iraq warfare has been controversial in Iran. Critics have questioned his function in expensive offensives that resulted in heavy Iranian casualties, together with Operation Karbala-4, a December 1986 assault aimed toward breaking by way of Iraqi defences towards Basra.
In 2018, Rezaei sparked renewed controversy by tweeting that Karbala-4 had been carried out to deceive the enemy forward of Karbala-5. He later clarified that the operation had initially been supposed as a real offensive, however that Iran subsequently used its failure as a deception forward of Karbala-5.
His feedback prompted criticism from veterans, bereaved households and senior political figures.
(Enhancing by Tom Perry, William Maclean)
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