Israel’s recent 12-day war with Iran has triggered a major shift in the Islamic Republic’s military leadership.
In a targeted campaign, Israel killed dozens of senior Iranian officers, including those leading key military institutions: the Armed Forces General Staff, Khatam ol Anbia Central Headquarters, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). These deaths significantly weakened Iran’s military command and control structure.
Most of the slain officers belonged to a longstanding and powerful faction known as the IRGC Command Network. This group formed during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s and maintained tight ideological and personal bonds, deeply loyal to the legacy of Ayatollah Khomeini. Over decades, they rose to dominate both Iran’s military and political landscapes, helping shape an expansionist foreign policy and enforcing authoritarian domestic controls.
Their influence extended beyond the battlefield. Members of the Command Network routinely intervened in politics, pressuring leaders like former President Mohammad Khatami to violently suppress dissent. They also supported hardliners such as parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and President Ebrahim Raisi—who was widely viewed as a potential successor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.