Khamenei appointed Shiite cleric Hojjatoleslam Ali Saeedi as his new pointman inside the elite military force.
Saeedis appointment comes after the unexpected resignation of Mohammad-Ali Movahhedi-Kermani. Movahhedi-Kermani, who had been the IRGC chief commissar for 14 years, said after a closed-door meeting with Khamenei on December 13 that the Supreme Leader had accepted his resignation. He cited fatigue, old age, and the need for younger men to take over as the reasons for his resignation.
But sources in the IRGC told Iran Focus that Movahhedi-Kermani had been unhappy with the growing merger between the IRGC and the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Hundreds of top IRGC officers have been seconded in recent months to senior executive posts.
Khameneis personal representative in the IRGC acts as the chief ideological commissar in the force to ensure the full implementation of Islamist doctrine and the Supreme Leaders orders. He oversees a network of clerics present in all the branches and units of the IRGC.
