Sardar Mohammad Ali Jafari |
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Jafari in 2013.
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Nickname(s) | Aziz Jafari Ali Jafari |
Born |
Yazd, Iran |
1 September 1957
Allegiance | Iran |
Service/ |
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps |
Years of service | 1981–present |
Rank | Major general |
Commands held | Ground Forces |
Battles/wars |
Iran–Iraq War (WIA) Iran–PJAK conflict 2016 West Iran clashes |
Awards | 3rd grade Fath Medal |
Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari (Persian: محمدعلی جعفری, born 1 September 1957 in Yazd, also known as Aziz Jafari and Ali Jafari) is the Iranian commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). He was appointed by the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, on September 1, 2007, to succeed Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi.
According to a September 2, 2007, report by Radio Free Europe, Radio Farda has described Jafari has been close to the conservative subfaction, which includes Mohsen Rezaee, the secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council and former commander of the IRGC and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a former IRGC member and the mayor of Tehran. The replacement of Safavi was thought to be a move to strengthen the conservative faction as a counterweight to the radicalizers around President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whom Safavi is close to.
"Observers appear to regard Jafari as principally a tactician, organizer, and 'technical' military man," according to Radio Free Europe. The EU's official journal said the three Iranian Revolutionary Guard members, Jafari, General Qasem Soleimani and the Guard's deputy commander for intelligence, Hossein Taeb, were now subject to sanctions and had been "providing equipment and support to help the Syrian regime suppress protests in Syria".
Jafari was born in Yazd and completed his primary and secondary education there. In 1977 he was admitted to Tehran University, where he studied civil (construction) technology. As a student he participated in anti-Shah protests in Tehran, and was arrested and sent to jail for this. He represented his university department in the Islamic Organization of Tehran University.