Iran Appoints New Head of Revolutionary Guards’ Intelligence Service

Iran has named Major General Majid Hantami as the new head of the Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence service, replacing Mohammad Kazemi, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Sunday, according to the official news agency IRNA. “During the years that our martyred leaders Kazemi and Moageg directed the service of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps, we witnessed significant development in all dimensions of information gathering,” stated Lieutenant General Mohammad Pakpour, the new head of the Revolutionary Guards, a key component of Iran’s armed forces. The former head of the intelligence service, Kazemi, was killed on June 15 along with two other senior intelligence officers, Hasan Moageg and Mohsen Bageri, in an attack by Israel’s military air force. Three intelligence generals were reportedly assassinated and fell as martyrs, as reported by IRNA citing the Revolutionary Guards. Lieutenant General Pakpour warned on June 13 that ‘the gates of retribution’ would open and Israel would face ‘catastrophic consequences’ following unprecedented aerial bombings and ground operations or sabotage actions launched on Iranian soil.