Khamenei appoints new chief for Iran's Revolutionary Guards

The country's supreme leader did not give a reason for the appointment

Major General Hossein Salami, the leader of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, is known for his fiery rhetoric. AFP

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has replaced the head of the powerful Revolutionary Guards Corps, state TV reported on Sunday, days after the United States designated the elite group a foreign terrorist organisation.

The TV station did not give a reason for the change when it announced the appointment of Brigadier General Hossein Salami to the position and his promotion to the rank of Major-General. He served as deputy commander of the Guards for years and is known for his hardline comments against Israel and the United States.

"The Supreme Leader has appointed Salami as the new commander-in-chief of the Guards, who will replace Mohammad Ali Jafari," the report said.

Maj Gen Jafari had held the post since September 2007.

President Donald Trump on April 8 designated the Guards a terrorist organisation, in an unprecedented step that drew Iranian condemnation and raised concerns about retaliatory attacks on US forces. The designation took effect on April 15.

Tehran retaliated by naming the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) as a terrorist organisation and the US government as a sponsor of terrorism.

On April 13, Maj-Gen Salami was quoted by Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency as saying that he and the IRGC were proud of being designated a terrorist group by Washington.

The Guard, created by late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini during Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, is a military force that has an industrial empire with political influence, and is loyal to the supreme leader.

Comprising an estimated 125,000-strong military with army, navy and air units, the Guards also command the Basij, a religious volunteer paramilitary force, and control Iran's missile programmes. The Guards' overseas Quds forces have fought Iran's proxy wars in the region.

The IRGC is in charge of Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs. Tehran has warned that it has missiles with a range of up to 2,000 kilometres, putting Israel, US military bases and Gulf States in the region within reach.

Maj Gen Salami, born in 1960, said in January that Iran's strategy was to wipe "the Zionist regime" (Israel) off the political map, Iran's state TV reported.

"We announce that if Israel takes any action to wage a war against us, it will definitely lead to its own elimination," Maj Gen Salami said after an Israeli attack on Iranian targets in Syria in January, Iranian media reported.