Iranian Military: The rumors of fleeing or arrested commanders are false

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An Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) spokesman has denied recent rumors that multiple high-ranking commanders of the Islamic Republic’s army have either fled the country or been arrested by the government as spies, according to a Radio Farda report.

At first the IRGC paid the rumors no mind until Wednesday when their spokesman, Ramezan Sharif, officially acknowledged these reports, responding publicly that the rumors are allegedly false.

Sharif said that the reports are enemy tactics “using criminal and social media networks and media” to spread these rumors throughout, according to the IRGC-run Fars news agency. He continued by saying that the commanders are “active in new positions and are seriously performing serving their mission and carrying out their duties.”

According to the Radio Farda report, the news agency cited several websites claiming that the former deputy of IRGC strategic affairs, General Mohammad Tavalee, was arrested after an attempt flee Iran – citing that his arrest was due to his assistance in the Israeli operation to steal the secretive Iranian nuclear archives.

The stolen archives, obtained by a secret Mossad mission, were later presented by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his now famous April 2018 speech where he claimed and presented evidence that Iran has been lying about their nuclear objectives in an attempt to make a nuclear bomb.

There are other reports that say another commander, Mostafa Rabiee, was forcibly replaced in his position as deputy of the IRGC inspectorate. Other rumors claimed that General Ali Nassiri fled the country after he was replaced in his position two months prior.

A political activist from Iran, Reza Alijani, told Radio Farda last year that multiple IRGC members in charge of gathering intelligence on Israeli operations were executed on charges of spying for Israel – as well as more reports of the same with other officials.

After Hossein Salami was donned commander-in-chief of the IRGC, many commanders disappeared and were not heard from again. In past years there have been such reports that these commanders were too charged with spying for Israel, and then executed for their dissidence.