Hossein Salami

Hossein Salami (Persian: حسین سلامی‎, born 1960) is an Iranian military officer with the rank of Major general,[1] who is the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).[2][3][4]

Sardar Hossein Salami
Born	1960 (age 60–61) Golpayegan, Iran
Allegiance	Iran
Service/branch	Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Years of service	1981–present
Rank	Major general[1]
Commands held	University of Command and Staff IRGC Air Force
Battles/wars	Iran–Iraq War

Early years

Salami was born in 1960[1] in Golpayegan, Isfahan province, Iran. In 1978, he was accepted in the mechanical engineering department at the Iran University of Science and Technology. When the Iran–Iraq War started, he joined the IRGC. After the war, he continued his study and graduated with a Master's degree in defense management.[5]

Career

Salami stands out among the commanders of the Revolutionary Guards for his fiery and aggressive speeches targeting the US, Israel[6] and Saudi Arabia.[7]

In January 2019 Salami said: “We will fight them on the global level, not just in one spot. Our war is not a local war. We have plans to defeat the world powers.”[8]

On 21 April 2019, Ali Khamenei appointed Salami as the new Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC, replacing Mohammad Ali Jafari who had held the post since September 2007.[1]

Qasem Soleimani and Hossein Salami, at the 5 November 2017 funeral of the father of the former.

On 7 January 2020, Salami spoke at the untimely funeral of his comrade in arms and IRGC Quds force subordinate, Qasem Soleimani, who had been slain the previous Friday near Iraq's Baghdad International Airport by a US airstrike: "I say the last word at the beginning: we will take revenge. We will take revenge, a revenge that will be tough, strong, decisive and finishing, and will make them regret."[9][10]

In the matter of 8 January 2020 termination of UIA flight PS752 due to IRGC missiles, on 13 January Salami went to the Iran Parliament and said "We did made a mistake. Some of our compatriots were martyred because of our mistake but it was unintentional... In my all lifetime I haven't been as sorry as much as now. Never... I wish I had been on board and burned with them... May God forgive us and then after than Iranian people and the families of the victims forgive us. And we for this incident, we were determined all the more to make it up."[11]

On 5 March 2020, Salami said that "We are now dealing with a biological war." He argued that it "may be the product of American biological warfare." This theory was amplified on 8 March by the state-run Press TV.[12]

Sanctions

According to the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747, sanctions were imposed on Salami on March 2007.[13][14][15]

On 8 April 2019, the US inflicted economic and travel sanctions on the IRGC and organizations, companies, and individuals affiliated with them.[16] Salami said the IRGC was proud that Washington named them as a terrorist group.[1] It was later remarked that Salami was included on the sanctions list as he had been promoted on 21 April commander of the IRGC.[6]

Responsibilities

• Commander of IRGC University of Command and Staff (1992–1997)
• Operations deputy of IRGC Joint Staff (1997–2005)
• Commander of IRGC Air Force (2005–2009)
• Academic staff of Supreme National Defense University
• Deputy commander of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (2009–2019)[5]
• The commander-in-chief of the IRGC (2019–)[4][3]

Personal life

Salami's brother, Mostafa Salami, is a senior officer in the armed force.[6] He is also an authority of Khatam-al Anbiya Construction Headquarters.[17][18][19]

See also

• List of Iranian two-star generals since 1979
• List of senior officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

References

1. Hafezi, Parisa. "Khamenei names new chief for Iran's Revolutionary Guards". reuters.
2. "Iranian Guard commander: Our 'hands remain on the trigger' to attack Israel". The Journalism post. 11 March 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
3. "خبرگزاری فارس - سردار سلامي جانشين فرمانده كل سپاه شد" [Sardar Salami succeeds the commanding officer] (in Persian). Fars News Agency. 4 October 2009.
4. Gladstone, Rick. "Iran's Supreme Leader Replaces Head of Revolutionary Guards". NYT. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
5. "Biography of Hossein Salami". Shakhsiat Negar. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
6. Zimmt, Dr. Raz. "Hossein Salami The New Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps" (PDF).
7. "Saudi Arabia to collapse over 'sectarian' policies: Iranian general". The Tehran Times. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
8. "'Iran's strategy is to wipe Israel off political geography'". Mehr News Agency. 28 January 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
9. Mu, Xuequan (7 January 2020). "Iran's guards commander vows "severe revenge" on U.S. over Soleimani's assassination". Xinhua.
10. Ma, Alexandra (7 January 2020). "Photos of Iranians flooding the streets for Soleimani's funeral show how much he was revered, and hint at how hard Iran may strike back". Business Insider.
11. "CNN: Iranian military official offers apology for Ukraine plane crash". UNIAN.NET. 13 January 2020.
12. Frantzman S (8 March 2020). "Iran's regime pushes antisemitic conspiracies about coronavirus". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 10 March 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
13. "Resolution 1747 (2007)" (PDF). United Nations. 24 March 2007.
14. "list of sanctions companies and individuals".
15. "Khamenei changed the commander of the Revolutionary Guards; "Salami" has repeatedly mentioned the missile threat of Israel and the West" (in Persian). VOA News.
16. Wong, Edward; Schmitt, Eric. "Trump Designates Iran's Revolutionary Guards a Foreign Terrorist Group". nytimes.
17. "Commander Brothers". farsnews.
18. "The brothers: New IRGC leader Salami has influential brother in Iranian armed forces".
19. "Deputy top commander: Iran standing against threats powerfully".