TEHRAN – Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in separate decrees on Thursday, appointed two senior commanders of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as the deputy chief and deputy coordinator of the Guards.

Ayatollah Khamenei named Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi as the deputy chief of the IRGC and Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi as its deputy coordinator, Mehr reported.

In his decrees, the Leader noted that the appointments were made in view of the commanders’ commitment and invaluable experience in different posts in the IRGC.

The appointments are part of the reshuffling following the recent change of IRGC’s chief in order to fill in vacant positions.

Fadavi has previously served as deputy coordinator and Naqdi was the deputy commander for cultural affairs. Prior to that he was commander of the Basij.

Aytollah Khamenei, who is the commander-in-chief of the Iranian armed forces under Iran’s constitution, has mandated the two officers with promoting efficiency and operational readiness of the Guards.

Last month, the United States designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization. The measure elicited some angry reactions in Iran, where the parliament passed a bill designating U.S. forces in the region, including CENTCOM, the U.S. central commands in the Persian Gulf region, as a terrorist group.

MH/