Iran has replaced six senior military figures, according to decrees published on Monday evening on a Telegram channel that disseminates news from Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
Iranian media also reported the appointments and published images of a ceremony in which Khamenei, however, was not visible.
Given that US-Israeli airstrikes had specifically targeted and killed military leaders in the country, the new appointments could bring a degree of order to the leadership.
Furthermore, the appointments could signal that Tehran is moving away from a state of acute crisis towards the formalization and consolidation of the power structure.
Ahmad Vahidi was promoted to the rank of general and formally appointed commander-in-chief of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
He had already been serving in the role since the killing of his predecessor.
Hossein Taeb, a long-serving intelligence officer, was appointed as the new head of the paramilitary Basij militias.
Brigadier Generals Ali Abdollahi and Ali Asmai were appointed chief of staff of the armed forces and commander of the IRGC’s naval forces, respectively. Two further appointments concerned deputy positions.
It comes after Khamenei appointed former IRGC commander Mohsen Rezaee as the new chairman of Iran’s National Security Council on Sunday.
In comments to the New York Times, Iran expert Hamidreza Azizi described the appointment as a move to counterbalance the influence of Parliament Speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, who most recently acted as chief negotiator in talks with the US.