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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Iran changes Revolutionary Guards commander |
| 2007-09-01 |
| Iran's highest authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Saturday replaced the commander of the Revolutionary Guards, a force U.S. officials have said Washington may label a terrorist group. Guards commander-in-chief Yahya Rahim Safavi was replaced by Mohammad Ali Jafari, who has been a commander in the Guards, Khamenei said in an order reported by state television. No reason was given for the move. "Regarding your valuable experience and shining background at different times, and varied responsibilities in the Guards, I appoint you (Jafari) ... as the commander-in-chief of this revolutionary service organization," Khamenei said. Khamenei said Safavi, who commanded the Guards for 10 years, would become his senior adviser on armed forces affairs. The Guards are an ideologically driven force set up shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution to act as guardians of the Islamic Republic. The force has a separate command structure from the regular military and answers directly to Khamenei. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #2 DEBKAfileÂ’s sources note that the Revolutionary Guards bear responsibility for IranÂ’s national nuclear and missile programs AKA "targets" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-09-01 17:44 |
| #1 DEBKAfile Exclusive: Major shakeup in elite Revolutionary Guards executed by supreme ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Sept 1 takes Iran a step closer to war September 1, 2007, 11:32 PM (GMT+02:00) Supreme ruler Ali Khamenei and new Revolutionary Guards chief Gen. Jaafari review IRGC Shihab missiles In a special decree, Khamenei suddenly sacked Gen. Rahim Safavi and appointed Gen. Mohammad-Ali (Aziz) Jaafari, commander of missile forces, in his place as Revolutionary Guards chief. Safavi was kicked upstairs as special security adviser to supreme ruler. DEBKAfile’s Iranian sources disclose: Two years ago, Khamenei entrusted Jaafari, then commander of the corps’ ground forces, with charting a war strategy for the IRGC, the bulwark of the regime, to meet a foreign attack on Iran. His formal task was to set up the corps’ “center for strategy,” which would be given “unlimited national resources in case of a foreign military confrontation. The new center was mandated to “draw up the new strategy and the necessary changes to ensure rapid an efficient transformation of the country’s civilian infrastructure and resources to military footing under the control of the IRGC.” Our sources that Khamenei has now assigned his most trusted adviser in the elite corps with taking supreme command of the IRGC and carrying out the strategy he developed. This appointment takes Iran a step closer to armed conflict. DEBKAfile’s sources note that the Revolutionary Guards bear responsibility for Iran’s national nuclear and missile programs. Last month, Washington indicated its intention to designate the IRGC as a global terrorist organization. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2007-09-01 17:39 |