According to Iran Wire, on August 7, 2nd Brigadier-General Hossein Rahimi was appointed as chief of police for greater Tehran. Previously, 1st Brigadier-General Hossein Sajedi was in charge of this position. This is the fourth relocation of military men in Tehran, after ISIS armed attack against Iranian Parliament and mausoleum of Khomeini.
The armed attack took place on June 7. On July 1, it was announced that Esmaeel Kosari has become deputy commander of Sarallah Base. The main commander of this base is IRGC commander, and usually, someone is appointed as his deputy. Previously, Brigadier-General Mohsen Kazemeini was in charge of this base and was at the same time commander of Tehran’s Mohammad Rasulullah Division. Nevertheless, on July 4, it was announced that 2nd Brigadier-General Mohammad Reza Yazdi has become the new commander of Tehran’s Mohammad Rasulullah Division. Mohsen Kazemeini, the former commander of Tehran’s Division, was in charge of this position since December 2011.
Iran Wire added that on June 20, Ali Reza Rahimi, lawmaker, and a member of National Security Commission said that Major Mojtaba Lavasani, commander of Parliament protection had been changed. IRGC is in charge of protecting the Parliament. It was during this time that Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the Parliament’s National Security Commission, complained about the security team’s performance. However, the day after, Mojtaba Zolnoor, the other member of National Security Commission, said there had been no changes and “a special force has been added” for protecting the Parliament.
Changing security and military commanders after security incidents is not unprecedented. On 8 January 2016, 4 days after attack on Saudi Embassy, Safarali Baratloo, security and military deputy to Tehran’s governor office, was removed by the order of Interior Minister. On January 10, 2nd Brigadier-General Hassan Arab Sorkhi, commander of a special unit of Tehran’s law enforcement forces, was removed. In 2009, following the bloody events after presidential elections, commander of Tehran’s law enforcement forces was removed in February 2009. In 1999, following the bloody events of Tehran University campus, Farhad Nazari, chief of police of greater Tehran, who was one of those in charge of attacking the university campus, was removed. Of course, the events of university campus eventually led to changing Brigadier-General Hedayat Lotfian, commander of Iran’s law enforcement forces.
Iran Wire also reported that such records show that there is a meaningful relationship between removing Iranian law enforcement and security officials and significant events. However, what makes these changes more significant is the fact that they have extended to IRGC, which in the recent decade, has had a more significant role in providing Tehran’s security.
Esmaeel Kosari and Mohammad Reza Yazdi, two new IRGC commanders in Tehran, were previously a member of parliament in Tehran and IRGC’s legal and parliamentarian deputy, and have more political records than Brigadier-General Mohsen Kazemeini.
