Iran suffered its deadliest foreign attack since the Iran-Iraq war on Friday morning. The Israeli strike killed several top Iranian military commanders. Among those killed were the head of the armed forces, Mohammad Bagheri, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Central Headquarters, Hossein Salami, the commander of the Khatam al-Anbia Central Headquarters, Gholamali Rashid, and the commander of the IRGC's Aerospace Force, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, according to the BBC .

In his first message after the Israeli attack, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei stressed that after "several commanders" were killed in the attack, "their successors and colleagues will immediately carry out their duties." Hours later, he issued three appointment decrees, replacing the previous commanders and appointing three generals. He appointed Abdolrahim Mousavi, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, as head of the armed forces.

Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the IRGC's ground forces, appointed Hossein Salami as commander-in-chief of the IRGC, and Ali Shadmani replaced Golamali Rashid at the Khatam al-Anbiya headquarters.

Then late Friday night, another decree was issued in which Brigadier General Amir Hatami was promoted to the rank of Major General and appointed as Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Republic Army, replacing Abdur Rahim Mousavi.

On June 14, Ali Khamenei appointed Brigadier General Majid Mousavi as commander of the IRGC's Aerospace Force.

Abdur Rahim Mousavi, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces

Major General Seyyed Abdur Rahim Mousavi, born in Qom, Iran in 1959, is a veteran of the Islamic Republic's army. His appointment as chief of the armed forces is seen as a significant turning point in Iran's military command structure.

Because for the first time, this position has been given to someone outside the IRGC commanders. Previously, only IRGC commanders were appointed to this position.

According to experts, this change could signal a redefinition of the army's role in Iran's military structure.

Again, a significant number of senior IRGC commanders have been killed in recent attacks, so some reshuffle in top appointments may be necessary.

Abdur Rahim Mousavi joined the army in 1979 and began his studies at the 'Army Officers' University.' He earned a doctorate in higher defense management from the university on national defense.

During the Iran-Iraq War, he was attached to the army's artillery ranks on the Western (Kurdistan) and Southwestern (Khuzestan) fronts and participated in the Valfajr-4 and 9 operations, Bayt al-Maqdis-5, Qadir and Nasr. He had significant skill in the Iran-Iraq War and was considered a 'war veteran'. After the end of the Iran-Iraq War, Mousavi was quickly promoted in the military structure.

In his early years, he was president of Imam Ali Military University, commander of the northeastern base in Nejaz, and deputy for training and planning of the ground forces.

Between 2005 and 2008, he was the Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and then served as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Army until 2016. Until 2017, he was the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces and that year, he was promoted to the rank of Major General and appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Army, where he served for eight years. During the Iran–Iraq War, he served as a member of the Army in the artillery ranks.

Mousavi was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2005 to 2008 and served as Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Army from 2008 to 2016. He was Deputy Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces from 2016 to 2017 and Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army from 2017 to June 13, 2025.

In a television interview, he said that his father had a spinning workshop and he had worked there since he was six years old. He married at the age of 23 and has two sons.

In the interview, he said that he has degrees in football refereeing and coaching and that he cannot watch the national football team play due to "extreme mental stress." Taking up his duties as a commander in the army, he said, "Today my dream is to eliminate the Zionist regime."

Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the Revolutionary Guard

Born in 1961 in the city of Arak, Major General Mohammad Pakpour is a veteran commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). He led the IRGC's ground forces for 16 years before being appointed Commander-in-Chief. Pakpour played an active role in the security crises of the early Iranian revolution, especially in Kurdistan.

During the Iran-Iraq War, he was the commander of the IRGC's armored unit, and after the war, he served as the commander of the 8th Division in Najaf Ashraf and the 31st Division in Ashura.

He was also wounded during the war, making Mohammad Pakpour one of the commanders with field experience in both classical and guerrilla warfare. After the war, Pakpour assumed several responsibilities in the IRGC command structure, including serving as commander of the Nusrat and Northern bases, deputy of the IRGC's general operations, and chief of ground forces.

In 2009, he was appointed commander of the IRGC's ground forces by a decree of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. He remained in this position until 2025. During this period, he created special units such as Saberin, whose specific mission is to secure borders and counter 'internal and regional threats'. He holds a master's degree in geography from the University of Tehran and a doctorate in political geography from Tarbiat Modares University.

His doctoral dissertation was on 'A suitable model for building sustainable security in Iran's ethnic regions'. Pakpour personally led the Saberin unit's operations during the June 2017 attacks on the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the shrine of Ayatollah Khomeini. He has received the Victory-1 Medal from the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic and is one of the commanders listed on the US sanctions list.

For his role in the suppression of the November 2019 protests, the European Union imposed sanctions on him in 2021. In his various interviews and comments, Mohammad Pakpour has emphasized issues such as the need for hybrid warfare and the role of the IRGC in maintaining internal security. He is one of the main architects behind popularizing the role of the IRGC in the civilian sphere.

Ali Shadmani, Commander of Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters

After the killing of Gholamali Rashid in an Israeli attack, Ali Shadmani, born in the city of Hamedan, was promoted to the rank of major general and appointed commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the largest and most operational base of the Iranian armed forces, which coordinates the army, IRGC, Ministry of Defense, and other security agencies in war and crisis situations.

According to Iranian media, Ali Shadmani was a hematology student at Mashhad University before the 1979 revolution, after which he dropped out of school and joined the army. At the beginning of the revolution, he left his job and joined the revolutionaries in Hamadan.

Shadmani became a member of the IRGC in 1979 and was present in the cities of Paveh, Sanandaj, and Sakkej during the unrest in Kurdistan. During the Iran-Iraq War from 1986 to 1988, he was the commander of the 32nd Division of Ansar al-Hussein, one of the active units on the country's western and southern fronts. After the war ended, he was appointed deputy for operations of the IRGC ground forces and held this position until 1996.

Later, from 1996 to 2001, he was the commander of the 3rd Division of the Hamza Sayyed al-Shuhada Special Forces, a unit that conducts specialized and counter-terrorism operations. Then, from 2001 to 2003, he became the commander of the Najaf Ashraf Base, which mainly operates in the western part of the country and against border threats.

From 2005 to 2012, he served as the head of the operations department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, and then as the deputy director of operations of the General Staff of the Armed Forces until 2016. Before being appointed as the commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters on June 13, 2025, he served as the deputy coordinator of the base for nearly nine years. Shadmani worked with Hossein Hamedani, a top IRGC commander who was killed in Syria 10 years ago.

Amir Hatami, Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army

Amir Hatami, born in Zanjan in 1966, served as Minister of Defense in the second-term administration of President Hassan Rouhani from 2017 to 2021. According to Iranian media, he participated in the Iran-Iraq War as a volunteer at a young age.

Hatami served on the Western Front during the final years of the war, including Operation Mersad. After the war, his promotion in the military continued, focusing on intelligence and operational areas.

Since 1998, he was Deputy Director of the Intelligence Department of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for about seven years and then held positions such as Head of the Army's International Relations Office, Head of the Supreme Advisors Group of the Army General Command, and Deputy Director of the Manpower Department of the Armed Forces General Staff.

In the 2010s, Hatami was appointed Deputy Defense Minister in Iran's 11th government and was promoted to Defense Minister in the 12th government, and was appointed as Army Commander after serving in this position for many years under the IRGC.

During his tenure, he emphasized the development of the domestic defense industry, strengthening missile capabilities, and military cooperation with allied countries. In addition to military duties, Hatami also taught at the Army Command-and-Staff University.

In October 2022, the Canadian government accused Amir Hatami of 'human rights abuses' and imposed sanctions on him. In May 2024, the Australian government imposed sanctions on several senior Iranian commanders, including Amir Hatami, for Iran's 'destabilizing activities in the Middle East', particularly its missile and drone programs and Iran's support for proxies in the region.

Hossein (Majid) Mousavi Eftekhari, Commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force

Hossein Mousavi Eftekhari, also known as Majid Mousavi, was born in Tehran and is a veteran commander in the Revolutionary Guard. Prior to this appointment, he served as deputy commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force.

According to Iranian media, he played a key role in the design, development and implementation of the Islamic Republic's ballistic missiles, drone systems and space equipment. He was with Amir Ali Hajizadeh, a close associate of Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, known as the 'father of Iranian missiles'.

Amir Ali Hajizadeh was killed in an explosion at an ammunition depot in the city of Mallard in 2011. In December 2024, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Hossein Mousavi Eftekhari for his direct role in developing Iran's missile and drone programs.