Iran's new military appointments signal offensive strategy: Analysis

By Al Jazeera English

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Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has appointed six senior military commanders to new positions, including Ali Abdollahi as Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, Ahmad Vahidi as commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Hossein Taeb as head of the Basij paramilitary force. Former IRGC chief Mohsen Rezaei was also appointed as Khamenei's new representative to the Supreme National Security Council. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Professor Mostafa Khoshcheshm of the University of Applied Science in Tehran said the appointments "are pointing in one direction, that Iran is going on the offensive", and that Tehran believes Donald Trump is "thinking of a full-fledged war maybe in coming weeks or months". Khoshcheshm said the appointments indicate a "major restructuring" and that Iran is preparing for "pre-emptive strikes and much more powerful strikes on the United States". He said the strategy has shifted from resistance to "continued and all-out enhancemen

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