Mohammad Pakpour

Mohammad Pakpour (Persian: محمد پاکپور;‎ born 1961) is an Iranian military officer who has served as the commander of the IRGC since 2025.^[1][2] He previously served as head of the IRGC Ground Forces. On 13 June 2025, he was appointed head of the IRGC following the death of his predecessor, Hossein Salami, in the June 2025 Israeli strikes on Iran.^[3] Pakpour was succeeded as commander of the Ground Forces by Mohammad Karami.

Sardar Mohammad Pakpour
General Pakpour in 2022
Born	1961 (age 63–64) Imperial State of Iran
Allegiance	Iran
Branch	IRGC
Years of service	1979–present
Rank	Major general
Commands	IRGC Ground Forces
Battles / wars	1979 Kurdish rebellion Iran–Iraq War War in Iraq (2013–2017) Third Battle of Fallujah Iran–PJAK conflict West Iran Clashes Iran–Israel war
Awards	Order of Fath (1st class)

Career

Pakpour joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the wake of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. He served during the 1979 Kurdish rebellion in Iran and the 8-year-long Iran–Iraq War. His responsibilities included five years of Army Operations Command, commander of the 8th Najaf Division, commander of 31st Ashura Division of Command chief Army's Northern Command headquarters. Pakpur has a PhD in Political Geography and has had responsibility for measures such as fighting terrorism in northwest Iran and establishing security in southeast Iran, as well as holding of specialized exercises.^[4][5]

During a maneuver, he asserted that the IRGC wants to promote the security of the region and the abilities of armed forces and to demonstrate new tactics in military operations.^[6] He expressed that drones like Hemaseh help to keep the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on their toes and shows the consistency and preparedness of the force.^[7]

U.S. sanctions

On 24 June 2019, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned him, freezing any of his U.S. assets and banning U.S. persons from doing business with him.^[8] He has also been sanctioned by the European Union, Australia, Japan, and Canada for his involvement with the IRGC and its wider operations. Although these sanctions were temporarily lifted following the 2015 nuclear agreement, they were reinstated after the United States withdrew from the deal.^[9]