Iranian state media on Saturday published a message from Rear Admiral Ali Azmaei that identified him as commander of the IRGC Navy, marking the first public indication that he has replaced Alireza Tangsiri, who was killed during the war in March.
No formal appointment decree has been published for Azmaei, whose predecessor was killed in an attack on Bandar Abbas on March 26.
Top IRGC appointments are normally announced through decrees issued by the supreme leader, but no such decree has been published by Mojtaba Khamenei who has not been seen in public since he reportedly suffered injuries in the early hours of the war.
In a message issued Saturday for the funeral of Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Azmaei said IRGC naval forces and “guardians of the strategic Strait of Hormuz” would continue Khamenei’s path, adding that “divine revenge” against what he called US and Israeli terrorists was not far off.
Azmaei had commanded the IRGC Navy’s Fifth Naval Region since its formation in 2012 and previously served as deputy commander of the IRGC Navy’s First Naval Region.
He was promoted to brigadier general by Ali Khamenei in April 2022 and has been under US sanctions since 2019. The US has sanctioned him as Ali Ozma’i.
The announcement comes as several senior military posts in the Islamic Republic have changed hands without the publication of formal decrees since Khamenei’s death.
