PROFILE: GHOLAMALI RASHID, IRAN'S FORMER WAR COMMANDER

Brigadier General Gholamali Rashid, Iran’s top military figure after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, led the country’s main war operations center until he was killed in Friday’s Israeli airstrikes.

Born in 1953 in Dezful, Rashid joined the IRGC after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and quickly rose through the ranks during Iran’s early military years.

Rashid became a key figure during the eight-year Iran-Iraq war, leading important command centers like the Fath headquarters.

He was crucial in planning and carrying out major military operations that influenced the war’s outcome.

After the war, Rashid rose through the military ranks, serving as deputy for intelligence and operations, then deputy chief of the General Staff.

In 2016, Supreme Leader Khamenei made him commander of the Khatam al-Anbia Central Headquarters.

As head of Khatam al-Anbia, Rashid controlled Iran’s highest command center for joint military operations, coordinating strategic cooperation between the IRGC, the regular army, and other defense units against regional and international threats.

This position made him Iran’s de facto war commander during times of war.

Beyond military duties, Rashid maintained an academic career as an associate professor at the National Defense University and a faculty member at Imam Hussein University, the institution responsible for training IRGC personnel.

In 1999, Rashid was one of the IRGC commanders who sent a threatening letter to reformist President Mohammad Khatami.

In recent months, as tensions between Iran and Israel grew, Rashid often warned Israel of retaliation.