RAFSANJANI NAMED CHIEF COMMANDER OF IRANIAN FORCES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: STARGATE
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP96-00789R000301330003-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 4, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 22, 1998
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: June 3, 1988
• Content Type: NSPR

Rafsanjani Named
Chief Commander
Of Iranian Forces
"By PatricE. Tyler
Washington Post Foreign Service
CAIRO, Egypt, June 2-Iran's
powerful speaker ' of parliament,
Hojatoleslam Ali Akbar Hashemi
Rafsanjani, today assumed the role
as commander-in-chief of Iran's
armed forces with a mandate from
,- Ayatollah` Ruhollah Khomeini to re-
organize the military after two se-
rious defeats in the land war with
Iraq and a costly naval clash with
the United States.
'~hran Radio and Iran's state
news agen'cy'!announced that Kho-
meini, the country's' 87-year-old
spiritual leader, issued an edict re-
linquishing constitutional title of
commander-in-chief to Rafsanjani.
The country's president, Ali Kha-
meini, who also sits as chairman of
Iran's Supreme Defense Council,
was.reported to have urged Rafsan-
jani's appointment, calling him "the
only suitable person to be assigned
this important respdnsibilty."
Rafsanjani, a 53-year-old clergy-
man,'. As not received any formal
military training.
In the wake of parliamentary
elections during April and May, the
appointment is the clearest indica-
tion to date that Rafsanjani has
emerged as an even stronger po-
litical force at the top of Iran's rev-
olutionary elite.
Rafsanjani's most important con-
stituent, Khomeini, has for the sec-
ond Time in six months responded to
calls from his proteges in the highly
factionalized government to consol-
idate power and give the Rafsan-
jani-led forces more authority to
manage the economy and, now, the
war.
In a commentary, Tehran Radio
said, "It is hoped that this transfer
of power will be the beginning of
developments on the battle-
fiel
;Iran has suffered ' a number of
setbacks in recent "battles against
Ir Onpri1 17,'Iragi forces dis-
lged ' Iranian occupation forces
from e southern is aw Peninsula,
andon`May`25, Iraq pushed Iranian
troops from the eastern od skirts of
the southern~ppoort city of Basra back
hemterriationai border.
"
The day after the wdefeat, six
Iranian 'warships were stink or
heavily damaged when' they en-
gad U.S. "Navy vessels as they
desi ro ed two Iranian oil platforms.
The S. attack was in retaliation
bTra an ranian mine explosion that
f
Approved Fore"r
Etes4
HASHEMIRAFSANJANI
Brig. Gen. Ismael Sohrabi, and re:,
placed him with an off with,
more solid revohttioredefy
tials, Col. Ali hahbazi.
In today's edict, Khomeini au-
thorized Rafsanjani to reconstruct
the armed forces command and to
set up a "general command head-
quarters and organize the full co-
ordination of the armed forces, the
.Revolutionary Guards, the security
forces and volunteer mobilization
forces."
Military analysts who monitor
the nearly eight-year-old Iran-Iraq
war have noted that in recent cam-
paigns there appeared to be a lack
of coordination between Iran's reg-,
ular armed forces 'and the Revolu-
tionary Guards, whose leadership
has built parallel ground, air and
naval units under a separate com-
mand structure.
Some analysts have suggested
that Iran's debilitated Air Force and
underfunded regular Army have
failed to come to the assistance of
Revolutionary Guards under attack
at Faw and east of Basra.
Khomeini, in today's edict,
stressed the importance of "com-
plete unity" in the military and
charged Rafsanjani with developing
"specific objectives" in training, Jo-
gistics and defense industries.
Rafsanjani has for some time car-
ried the title of Khomeini's repre-
sentative on the Supreme Defense
Council and has been deeply in-
volved' in planning and directing
military campaigns such as the oc-
cupation of Faw in February 1986
and the seizure of territory outside
Basra in January 1987, which cost
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