{"id":238568,"date":"2021-04-25T08:26:45","date_gmt":"2021-04-25T13:26:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=238568"},"modified":"2023-02-01T04:57:49","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T03:57:49","slug":"who-is-mohammad-reza-fallahzadeh-the-new-deputy-commander-of-irans-quds-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/inside-source-reports\/who-is-mohammad-reza-fallahzadeh-the-new-deputy-commander-of-irans-quds-force\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Is Mohammad Reza Fallahzadeh, The New Deputy Commander of Iran\u2019s Quds Force?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mohammad<\/a>
Mohammad Reza Fallahzadeh (Left) and Qasem Soleimani (Right) at Syria<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On April 18, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a vague statement announcing that the deputy head of the organization\u2019s foreign special operations division, the Quds Force, had died. The statement said only that Brigadier General Mohammad Hosseinzadeh Hejazi<\/a> had succumbed to \u201cheart disease,\u201d but the lack of detail quickly raised doubts about the accuracy of its claim. These doubts were soon fueled by the circulation of a message posted to Twitter by the son of another killed IRGC<\/a> commander.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to say that the cause of death was not a heart condition. My leader, this soldier of yours [was] sacrificed for you,\u201d wrote Muhammad Mehdi Hemmat. \u201cI offer my condolences, I also sacrifice myself for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hemmat offered no further insight into the actual cause of death, but it stands to reason that if the IRGC and the Iranian regime at large are lying about it, they are doing so in order to cover up information that would be embarrassing or otherwise damaging to the Iranian regime.<\/p>\n

Hejazi played a major role in the regime\u2019s malign foreign activities both before and after assuming deputy leadership of the organization. As the commander of an IRGC-run civilian paramilitary, the Basij, from 1998 to 2007, Hejazi also contributed to major crackdowns on dissent inside Iran. In 2008 and 2009, he served as the deputy head of the IRGC itself, and in 2009 he was a leading figure in the suppression of protests.<\/p>\n

But it was from 2011 onward that Hejazi really distinguished himself through crimes against civilian populations, as he coordinated assistance to the Assad regime during the Syrian Civil War. His service to the Iranian regime\u2019s project there placed him in a strong position to assume deputy leadership of the Quds Force after Brigadier General Esmail Qaani was promoted out of that position to replace Soleimani<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Who was Qassem Soleimani?<\/div><\/div>
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