The Supreme Leader fills Iran's senior military posts by decree and orders the joint headquarters merged — Key Events — Iran–Gulf

What happened

In decrees published by his office, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei appoints Ali Abdollahi chief of the Armed Forces General Staff and Kioumars Heydari his deputy, names Ahmad Vahidi commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guard with Mostafa Izadi as deputy, Ali Azmaei commander of the Guard's navy and Hossein Taeb head of the Basij. The decrees instruct the new chief to complete the integration of the Armed Forces General Staff and the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, on directives attributed to the late Supreme Leader. Abdollahi had been reported as commander of the Central Headquarters since June 2025.

TWO DIFFERENT FACTS IN ONE DECREE. The appointments are personnel change: the post of chief of the General Staff had been without a published holder since its incumbent was killed on 28 February, while the Guard's commander was named the day after his predecessor's death and is here confirmed by decree. The merger instruction is institutional change: it shows that the General Staff and the Central Headquarters were still separate bodies five months into the war, and that the system's own leadership chose to alter the command structure during it. Neither the form of the merged body nor whether the integration is complete is published, and no new commander of the Central Headquarters is named.

Confidence: High

When10 Aug 2026

KindLeadership change · Military

Confidence: High Sources: Official government statements · Established international media reporting · Iran International ↗ Methodology Corrections

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Watch questions this event bears on

Standing analytical questions whose evidence runs through this event, each with its latest review. Derived from the Watch object, never restated here.

Military2026-10-05Does one headquarters command both of Iran’s armed forces, or coordinate them?
Observable met
1. 2026-09-04: Baseline
2. 2026-09-13: No material change
3. 2026-09-20: No material change
4. 2026-09-27: No material change
5. 2026-10-04: No material change
6. 2026-10-05: Observable met

Connected records

6 records that this event names, or that name it — every one an explicit reference in a published record, nothing inferred from subject matter.

Part of1

Campaigns whose record places this event inside them.

The 2026 warThe memorandum, and its collapse

Actors1

Actor records this event names.

Iran

Participants3

Organisations this event records, with the role and confidence it states.

Analytical Notes1

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Who commands Iran’s war?

Where this fits

This is one entry in the Iran–Gulf timeline. The full Key Events surface carries every dated turning point with its filters and its essential subset, and this event in place shows what came before and after it. How Vigil grades, dates and sources its claims is set out in the methodology.