section_path: Abstract
section_name: Abstract
paragraph_text: Hossein Salami (Persian: حسین سلامی; 1960 – 13 June 2025) was an Iranian military officer who served as the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from 2019 until 2025 when he was killed by an Israeli airstrike during the Iran–Israel war.
  
  Salami joined the IRGC during the Iran–Iraq War in 1980, when he was a college student. He rose through the ranks, becoming deputy commander. On 21 April 2019, the supreme leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, appointed him as the new Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC, replacing major general Mohammad Ali Jafari. Salami stood out among the commanders of the IRGC for his fiery and aggressive speeches targeting the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.