The previous commander-in-chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Mohsen Rezaei, has been named head of the nation’s highest nationwide safety physique, the Iranian presidency introduced on Sunday.
Along with beforehand main the elite IRGC paramilitary, Rezaei, 71, is needed on a world arrest warrant for his alleged position in one of many deadliest antisemitic assaults of latest many years, the bombing of the AMIA Jewish neighborhood middle in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1994.
Rezaei is the second individual tapped to move Iran’s Supreme Nationwide Safety Council since Israel assassinated the powerful Iranian official Ali Larijani in mid-March, simply weeks into the US-Israeli battle with the Islamic Republic. Israel’s army stated, upon killing Larijani, that he had served because the “de facto chief” of Iran following the killing of former supreme chief Ali Khamenei on the battle’s first day.
The present supreme chief, Khamenei’s son Mojtaba, was injured in that very same strike and has not been seen publicly since.
Rezaei’s appointment was the newest shuffle on the high for the politburo-like Supreme Nationwide Safety Council, which has a spread of political views and rivalries and is adapting to the lack of a number of senior officers within the battle.
He replaces Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who will turn out to be a political adviser to Khamenei.
“In mild of the resignation of Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr from his place as secretary of the Supreme Nationwide Safety Council and his appointment to new features, President Masoud Pezeshkian has named Mohsen Rezaei as the top of this physique,” presidency spokesman Mehdi Tabatabaei wrote on X.
Rezaei earlier this month stated Iran won’t ever enable an unauthorized route by way of the Strait of Hormuz, which was thought-about a world waterway and a key pathway for the worldwide oil provide earlier than Tehran started obstructing it in the beginning of the battle.
He declared in July that management of the Strait was “extra essential than dozens of atomic bombs,” a reference to the Iranian nuclear program, which can also be one of many battle’s central points.
Wished by Interpol for alleged position in AMIA assault
Rezaei led the IRGC from 1981 to 1997 — a tenure that included virtually the entire Iran-Iraq battle — earlier than occurring to occupy a number of high-ranking political posts. He lately served because the youthful Khamenei’s army adviser.
Throughout his tenure as head of the IRGC, he was allegedly concerned within the AMIA assault. The bombing, in accordance with an Argentine courtroom ruling, was carried out by Hezbollah terrorists and funded by Iran. It killed 85 individuals and injured a whole lot extra.
Rezaei has lengthy been wished by Interpol for his suspected position within the bombing. The worldwide police group has had a “Red Notice” out for his arrest since 2007, together with searching for the arrests of 5 different Iranians and a Lebanese nationwide.
In 2022, Argentina asked Qatar to arrest Rezaei when he was within the Gulf state, however Qatar didn’t achieve this.
“The accusation made towards him arises from his confirmed participation on the assembly by which finishing up the assault on AMIA’s headquarters was determined,” stated Argentine federal decide Daniel Rafecas in an official letter to Qatar on the time.
Earlier that yr, a public look by Rezaei on the investiture of Nicaragua’s president angered Argentina and drew a harsh response from its Overseas Ministry, which known as Rezaei’s presence “an affront to Argentine justice and to the victims of the brutal terrorist assault″ within the Argentine capital.
