New Head of Iranian Revolutionary Guard is a Former US Hostage Taker
Rumors Iranian president Ahmadinejad was one of the 1979 kidnappers at the Tehran US Embassy have yet to be authenticated. But, as Meir Javedanfar reports for the first time in Western media, Mohammad Ali Jafari - new commander of the powerful Iranian Revolutionary Guard - indeed was one of the original hostage takers.
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On Saturday 1st of September 2007, Brigadier General Mohhamad Ali Jafari, also knows as Aziz Jafari, was appointed as the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC).
Born in 1957 in the city of Yazd, Jafari had a distinguished background in the IRGC. At the onset of the Iraq-Iran war in 1980, he joined the Baseej (people’s militia) and by 1981 he was made into a member of the IRGC. This was a notable promotion for him as many Bassej soldiers found it difficult to break into the ranks of the IRGC, who were considered to be superior to them, both in terms of equipment and authority. He served until the end of the war in West and South of Iran. After the war he went to complete his Masters Degree in Architecture. In 1992, he was made the commander of the IRGC ground forces, a post which he held for 13 years. In 2005 Ayatollah Khamenei put him in charge of the IRGC Centre for Strategic studies.
Until today, there have been a number of debates about the reasons behind Jafari’s speedy rise through the ranks of the IRGC. One of the reasons given is that in 1985, Jafari became one of the advocates and designers of classic military tactics, which were used with relative success against Saddam’s forces. These include the use of diversionary attacks, and blitzkrieg type assaults. His methods improved the success rate of IRGC, thus winning him a higher rank and more influence within the organization.
However today another important revelation was made about Jafari’s past. Farda News, an Iranian news agency based in Tehran, revealed that prior to the outbreak of the war, Jafari was in fact involved in the takeover of the US embassy in Tehran, which took place on 4th of November 1979. This important disclosure is an important explanation for those wishing to know why Jafari rose through the IRGC ranks so quickly after joining as a simple Baseeji soldier. People who took part in the takeover established important contacts with the other hostage takers who later rose through the ranks, as well as government officials who were running the operation.
The appointment of somebody who was involved in taking US hostage, as the commander of a 200,000 strong military force can be interpreted as a provocation in the current cold war between Tehran and Washington. The important question to ask is: how long before such provocations turn into open confrontation? With the massive breakdown in communications and trust between both sides, one could be forgiven for fearing the worst.
Meir Javedanfar is the co-author of “The Nuclear Sphinx of Tehran - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the State of Iran.” He runs Middle East Economic and Political Analysis (Meepas)
Jafari on the far right with Ayatollah Khamenei (photo: Iran Focus)
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12 Comments
Jeff in Brooklyn:All I can say is uh-oh.
Sep 2, 2007 - 4:00 pm markus:Than you Jimmy Carter. You helped usher all this in. You have a lot of blood on your hands.
Sep 3, 2007 - 6:55 am mike:This is unbelievable. Really. These guys are really provoking the US.
Sep 3, 2007 - 8:07 am Free Iran:http://www.iran-resist.org/article3753
Sep 3, 2007 - 2:35 pm serendip:Is this the guy who escaped the Anbar province during the Irbil-5 capture? Was he ever vice deputy of Larijani??
http://fleetingperusal.blogspot.com/2007/08/mistaken-identity.html
Sep 3, 2007 - 3:30 pm wGraves:Well, now we know where to find this guy. I vote for reprisal.
Sep 3, 2007 - 3:55 pm MarcH:Here’s another quote about and from Jafari:
‘In his recent speech, the commander of Iran’s suicide units hinted that the theocratic state might also make use of long-term “sleeper cells” in the West for these operations.
“Those who are familiar with this form of warfare know that once the order for operations is given, it will be impossible to control or contain it, because the operational forces at in an irregular way and under their own command. Their operations may continue for years. So the American people must know that their own rulers will be responsible for the consequences of any rash action by [U.S. President George W.] Bush”, General Jaafari said.
In an earlier interview with Parto-Sokhan, Jaafari announced that more than 50,000 individuals had been enlisted in the Iranian military garrison opened to recruit and train volunteers for “martyrdom-seeking operations”.
…
According to the hard-line weekly, Jaafari told a recent meeting of suicide volunteers, “We have many martyrdom-seeking forces. Each of them is the equivalent of a nuclear bomb and they are not at all afraid of death”.
…
“The Imam [Khomeini] said years ago that Israel must be wiped off the face of the Earth, but so far practical steps have not been taken to achieve this”, the garrison commander said. “Our garrison must spot, recruit, organise and train martyrdom-seeking persons to be able to materialise this objective. Any delay in fulfilling the strategy of the Imam and the Supreme Leader in this regard will not be to the advantage of Islam or the revolution”.
“The United States should know that we have nuclear weapons, but they are in the hearts of our suicide bombers”, Jaafari added.’
Sep 3, 2007 - 5:16 pm MarcH:(previous Jafari quotes from, http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3429)
Sep 3, 2007 - 5:21 pm Blacque Jacques Shellacque:The important question to ask is: how long before such provocations turn into open confrontation?
Given the “leadership” at all levels of the federal government, I can imagine that it’ll take a very long time.
Sep 3, 2007 - 9:41 pm Jed:Oh how easy it is to forget why the Iranians took our hostages.
Don’t any of you know about the terror attacks the CIA and British MI5 did on Iranian citizens, blaming them on their leader so they would overthrow him, thus giving the US and Britain control of their oil fields?
Our hostages were taken due to 20 plus years of them living under a hated leader which THE USA AND BRITAIN installed.
If Iran came here and attacked us, blamed it on our leader, made us live under a [more] horrible leader for many years. Made us live in terrible conditions. Wouldn’t we be just a little ticked off and want to do something to any Iranians who came here eventually, after we’d have enough of our horrible lives?
This is just another story trying to ratchet up the support for the USA to go bomb Iran.
Learn why Iran hates us so much, and you won’t be so quick to want to go bomb them. Heck, if I was an Iranian I would probably hate the USA too for what they did to their people back in 1953.
Sep 4, 2007 - 7:51 am Poulette:Jed,
Gee, I know that may fit into your worldview, but have you ever tried asking real, live Iranians what they think of all that crap? My sis-in-law is Iranian, was no lover of the Shah, but she hates Jimmy Carter–and no, she doesn’t live in the US. Iranians, on the whole, are pretty America-friendly. Don’t mix up the regime with the population, esp. in a case where the most popular candidates aren’t allowed to run.
I am in no way for military intervention in Iran, but for heaven’s sakes: take off the bleeding heart hair shirt and get the facts.
Sep 4, 2007 - 9:09 am Winston:Hey, does it really matter who did what in this murderous regime where every one has done something terribly wrong? All the high ranking officials of this murderous regime have done crimes against their own citizens and the rest of the world. Why should we focus on one individual saying this guy did that in 1979. They’re all criminals….
Sep 4, 2007 - 6:06 pm