After 15 Years; Former Commander of the IRGC's Largest Economic Enterprise Returns to the Same Position

Iranian news agencies reported on Tuesday the appointment of "Abdolreza Abad" as the new commander of the "Khatam al-Anbia Construction Headquarters" of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). According to these reports, Abad replaces Seyyed Hossein Hooshalsadat. The Khatam al-Anbia Headquarters is one of the economic arms of the IRGC and is currently considered the "largest contractor" for government projects in Iran. This headquarters was established after the Iran-Iraq War by the order of Ali Khamenei and the decree of Mohsen Rezaei, the then-commander of the IRGC, with the declared goal of "water supply, oil and gas export, dam construction, water transfer, energy, and road construction." The Khatam al-Anbia Headquarters has been under U.S. sanctions for several years. Abdolreza Abad, who was appointed today by Hossein Salami, the commander of the IRGC, previously held this position from 2006 to 2008. Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the current Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, also served in this position within the IRGC from 1994 to 1997 before moving to the police force where he took command. Rostam Qasemi, former Minister of Oil, Roads, and Urban Development in the governments of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ebrahim Raisi, was also one of the commanders of this headquarters from 2007 to 2011. According to one of the officials of this headquarters in 2014, this economic entity has more than 135,000 personnel, over 100,000 of whom are considered "official forces" of the Khatam al-Anbia Headquarters. This is the second time an IRGC commander has been appointed to this position for a second term. Mohammad Setareh Vafaee, the first commander of this headquarters at its establishment, also held the command for a second time from 1998 to 2006. Abad, who has reached this position for the second time, has also held positions such as the CEO of the specialized holding of oil, gas, and petrochemicals of this headquarters. In recent decades, many large economic projects have been entrusted to this headquarters without going through bidding processes.