Hossein Taeb, the cleric who commanded the Basij during the 2009 crackdown on the Green Movement and led the Revolutionary Guards' intelligence service for 13 years, has been reappointed as head of the IRGC's militia. The decision to bring back one of the Islamic Republic's most senior internal security figures to a frontline position in the early months of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei's rule is part of a recent reshuffle among the Islamic Republic's political, military and security elites. The appointment signals that the Tehran regime's new leadership is preparing for possible unrest at home, amid the ongoing war with the US and mounting economic pressure from sanctions.
Taeb joined the IRGC as a teenager and later served in the Ministry of Intelligence before returning to the Guards. He became Basij commander in July 2008, less than a year before Iran's disputed presidential election triggered the mass demonstrations of June 2009 known as the Green Movement. The Basij played a central role in the crackdown that followed.
The US sanctioned Taeb in 2010 over his command responsibility for the violence, with the EU following suit in 2011. In late 2009, he was appointed the first head of the newly created IRGC Intelligence Organisation. He held that position for roughly 13 years, during which the body became one of the country's most powerful security institutions, at times competing with and frequently overshadowing the civilian Ministry of Intelligence.
Under his tenure, the organisation expanded into cases involving political opponents, journalists, environmental activists and dual nationals. The most prominent operation associated with his time as IRGC intelligence chief was the capture and extradition of Ruhollah Zam, an Iranian dissident living in France who ran the popular Telegram channel Amad News. The IRGC brought Zam to Iran in 2019.
Taeb was replaced in June 2022 by Mohammad Kazemi and moved to an advisory role under the IRGC commander. His removal followed a period of significant intelligence failures, including operations attributed to Israel that exposed serious weaknesses in Iran's counter-intelligence. These included alleged penetrations of sensitive sites and the killing of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in November 2020 outside Tehran.
Iranian authorities never publicly confirmed those failures as the reason for his departure. Taeb was not expelled from the security establishment, but was instead moved directly into another senior position. Taeb and Mojtaba Khamenei are reported to have longstanding ties dating back to the Iran-Iraq War, during which both were associated with the Habib battalion of the IRGC's 27th Mohammad Rasulollah Division.
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