Iran appoints new chief for Revolutionary Guards Corps

TEHRAN

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday appointed a new chief for the Revolutionary Guards Corps replacing Brigadier-General Mohammad-Ali Jafari.

According to Iranian News Agency IRNA, Khamenei appointed Brigadier General Hossein Salami as the new commander.

In an unprecedented move, U.S. President Donald Trump on April 8 said he would formally designate the force a "terrorist organization".

The U.S. move is the first time a government agency has been blacklisted a terrorist body, though parts of the guard had previously been designated, namely its elite external operations wing, the Quds Force.

As a retaliator move in the same day, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council formally designated U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) as a “terrorist organization”.