By Reza Shafa

In the midst of the sweeping changes being implemented within the IRGC, and Jafari’s appointment of his close allies to vital posts, Jafari has also assigned Mohammad-Jafar Assadi, former IRGC commander of the Lebanon branch, to head the IRGC’s ground forces.

The new IRGC ground forces commander’s background

First name: Mohammad-Jafar
Last name: Assadi
Alias: Also known within the IRGC’s Lebanon branch commanding unit as “Madani”

Date and place of birth: January 1958; Mamasani, Fars province.

In 1980, after failing to complete his high school education, Assadi became a member of the IRGC. To compensate for his embarrassing lack of a high school diploma, the IRGC later granted him a “PhD in strategic studies.”

He was dispatched to the fronts since the very beginning of the Iran-Iraq war, and took part in various operations. For a while, he was the commander of the 33rd al-Mahdi brigade, and in 1991 he was appointed to command the 19th Fajr division.

Assadi later became the commander of the IRGC branch in Lebanon, and planned the branch’s terrorist operations. In order to avoid being recognized in Lebanon as the IRGC’s commander there, he used the alias “Madani.”

Upon his return from Lebanon, he held several different posts, including the commander of the Ashoora brigade, deputy commander of the ground forces, and deputy investigator at the headquarters of the commander-in-chief. He is currently a supporter of the new strategic shift in the IRGC, and is a close confidant of Mohammad-Ali Jafari, the current IRGC commander-in-chief. On July 12, 2008, Jafari appointed Assadi as the commander of the IRGC ground forces.

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Reza Shafa is an expert on the Iranian regime's Intelligence networks, both in Iran and abroad.
He has done extensive research on Iranian Ministry of Information and Security (MOIS) also known as VEVAK, Intelligence Office of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Qods Force among others. Currently he is a contributor to NCRI website