By Ivan Kesic
The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) has officially confirmed the martyrdom of Major General Hossein Salami, the commander-in-chief of the IRGC forces, in a treacherous Israeli terrorist attack in Tehran in the early hours of Friday.
In a statement, the IRGC paid tribute to their martyred commander and vowed to avenge his blood.
“Undoubtedly, Major General Salami was one of the most prominent commanders of the Islamic Revolution and a man of the scientific, cultural, security and military fields of struggle, who was present in all scenes with a sincere, wise and sovereign spirit in the front line of defending the ideals of the revolution and the nation,” the statement noted.
The aggression took place early on Friday, with many civilian areas in the capital, Tehran, as well as other provinces, coming under indiscriminate Israeli aerial attacks.
Major General Hossein Salami was born in 1960 in the village of Vaneshan, located in Golpayegan County in the northwestern part of Isfahan province.
In 1978, the year the movement against the West-backed Pahlavi monarchy gained momentum, he was accepted into the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Science and Technology. However, with the outbreak of the Imposed War in the early 1980s, he joined the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).
During the 8-year war, he served in the 14th Imam Hossein (AS) Division, based in Isfahan, operating in Kurdistan province and the southern front.
He took on various combat and command roles alongside his comrades during the war.
Later, he was responsible for operations in the Nuh Nabi naval region, one of the five IRGC naval districts, headquartered in the city of Bushehr. This region oversees the security of Khark Island and its strategically vital oil terminals.
After the war, Major General Salami continued his higher education at the AJA University of Command and Staff (DAFOOS), the primary staff college for the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, While teaching at the IRGC University of Command and Staff, Major General Salami also completed his studies at the University of Science and Technology. Additionally, he served as a faculty member at the National Defense University.
He commanded DAFOOS from 1992 to 1997, then served as deputy director of operations for the IRGC Joint Staff from 1997 to 2006. He was appointed commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force from 2006 to 2009, and subsequently served as deputy commander of the IRGC General Staff from 2009 to 2019.
During his tenure leading the Aerospace Force, Hassan Tehrani Moghadam—the father of Iran’s missile program—always spoke of Salami with great respect and honor, recognizing him as an exceptional individual with extraordinary capabilities and unwavering commitment to the Islamic Revolution.
His brother, Amir Mustafa Salami, is a commander in the Islamic Republic Army and an official at the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the unified combatant command center of Iran’s Armed Forces.
Major General Salami assumed the position of IRGC commander in April 2019 and played a pivotal role during the escalating tensions with the United States and the Zionist regime.
Believing that Iran’s progress has been achieved through self-reliance and confidence, Salami stated: “Once upon a time we thought that others should build the power plant and we should use it, and nuclear and aerospace knowledge was only in our minds, but today we build satellites, refineries, and power plants.”
He added, “Iran has achieved important achievements in the field of aerospace and has been able to place a satellite in Earth’s orbit, and these achievements have led to the assassination of the country’s scientists by the enemies.”
On the country’s nuclear program, he remarked: “The enemies want to deprive us of nuclear capability, but the 5+1 formula did not stop the Iranian nation from taking steps in nuclear science and surrendering to the will of the nation.”
In 2013, Major General Salami also emphasized Iran’s military strength: “We have left behind the era of oppression of the Sacred Defense, and today our nation enjoys great authority both in depth and in appearance. Today, we have neither a missile deficit nor a lack of manpower.”
He continued, “Our radars are functioning at their best, and these powers are the result of two factors: one is the pillar of the Islamic Revolution, and the other is the power of capacity that is expressed in our unity, empathy, and solidarity.”
Major General Salami also analyzed issues in the West Asian region, stating: “The strategy of the hegemonic system, namely the United States, has been formed and is ongoing around four key issues: Islam, energy, geopolitics, and the security of the Zionist regime.”
“These four fundamental issues have shaped the configuration and main skeleton of US strategies in this region. American strategic failures around these four key goals have caused changes and shifts in US policies in various regions of the Islamic world,” he said.
He also stressed the importance of having a capable leader at the helm of the country, saying that “with the blessing of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution (Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei’s) guidance, we are advancing in the field of science and technology.”
“We are breaking through the depths of space, sending satellites into space, and reaching the level of advanced powers in nuclear science. It happens that the powerful world mobilizes to deprive us of achieving this great characteristic, and yet we stand still,” he added.
His martyrdom marks the end of an era but the battle against the enemy continues.
