Iran replaces head of Revolutionary Guard

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has appointed a new head of the elite Revolutionary Guard, it was announced tonight.

Mohammed Ali Jafari, described only as a senior figure in the hardline force, replaces General Yahya Rahim Safavi who has led the Guards for the past decade.

“Given your valuable experience and shining record at various periods and different responsibilities within the Guard, I appoint you as the commander in chief of this revolutionary and faithful organisation,” Khamenei said about Jafari in a televised statement tonight.

Safavi, meanwhile, was appointed in a separate decree as the supreme leader’s top adviser.

No reason was given for the change, which comes amid rising accusations from Washington that the Guard engages in terrorist acts abroad and is particularly active against US forces in Iraq.

It is not clear if the reshuffle will affect Washington’s decision to put the Guards on a list of terrorist organisations, a move that would put pressure on businesses the corps is thought to control, from construction to oil sectors.

Khameini’s decision, however, comes two weeks after Safavi told the local press the Guards would retaliate against Washington’s attempts to register it as terrorist.

“America will receive a heavier punch from the Guards in the future,” he was quoted as saying on August 16 by the conservative daily Kayhan. “We will never remain silent in the face of US pressure and we will use our leverage against them.”

The estimated 200,000-strong Revolutionary Guards answers directly to Khamenei and is seen as a defender of the clerical establishment brought to power by the 1979 Islamic revolution that swept away a pro-Western regime.