By SETH J. FRANTZMAN and MECRA STAFF
Iran has appointed a new deputy commander for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force in the wake of the killing of Major General Qasem Soleimani. Esmail Ghaani was appointed the successor of Soleimani while his deputy will be Brigadier General Mohammad Hejazi. Hejazi, whose full title is sometimes written as Mohammad Hosseinzadeh Hejazi or Seyyed Mohammad Hejazi (سید محمد حسینزاده حجازی).
From well known commander to suppressing dissidents
First, Hejazi is well known for Iran observers. He has been sanctioned by the European Union. He was added to the EU sanctions list in 2012. This was due to his role in suppressing dissent in Iran, including during the 2009 protests. He was the head of the IRGC’s Sarollah Corps (Sarallah Base) in Tehran, where he “played a significant role in the bloody post-election crackdown.” He was involved in sending a letter to the Ministry of Health in June 2009 that covered up the injuries related to the protests.
He was once vice-commander of the IRGC, so it would seem that being made deputy of the IRGC’s Quds Force is a demotion. Radio Farda disagrees “Hejazi’s new position is not a demotion as it may seem at first glance. In fact, it can even be perceived as a huge promotion because of Khamenei’s now openly expressed strategy of keeping the war with the United States and Israel outside Iranian borders.” His name appears in numerous books on Iran such as Farhad Rezaei’s Iran’s Foreign Policy After the Nuclear Agreement: Politics of Normalizers and Hasam Forozan’sThe Military in Post-Revolutionary Iran. He had Wikipedia pages in English, Russian and Farsi. In 2009 he appeared prominently on stage with a group of other commanders and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He was with Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, military advisor to the supreme leader, General Yahya Rahim Safavi, chief of the Iranian armed forces, Brigardier General Hassan Firouzabadi, and the president at the Army Day Parade.
Content retrieved from: https://www.mideastcenter.org/post/who-is-iran-s-new-deputy-irgc-quds-force-commander-mohammad-hejazi.
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