Abdolrahim Mousavi Age, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About Abdolrahim Mousavi

• Abdolrahim Mousavi joined the Iranian army in 1979.

• During the 1980s, he served in the army’s artillery unit during the Iran-Iraq War.

• Abdolrahim Mousavi actively participated in various battlefronts, including the western region of Kurdistan with the 28th Kurdistan Division.

• He also served on the southwestern front in Khuzestan province with the 33rd Artillery Group of the Ground Forces.

• Abdolrahim Mousavi took part in many military operations during the Iran-Iraq War, including Valfajr 4, Valfajr 9, Beit al-Moqaddas 5, Qader, and Nasr.

• He is known as a war veteran.

• From 1999 to 2005, Abdolrahim Mousavi served as the Chief of Joint Staff of the Army.

• From 2008 to 2016, he served as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Army.

• From 2016 to 2017, Abdolrahim Mousavi was the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces.

• In 2017, he was appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army.

• In May 2019, Abdolrahim Mousavi began serving as the Commander of the Khatam al-Anbia Air Defence Base.
  

  Abdolrahim Mousavi speaks during a rally outside the former US embassy in the capital, Tehran, on 4 November 2019, to mark the 40th anniversary of the Iran hostage crisis

• He has served as the Commander of Imam Ali Officers’ University, where he trained future military officers of Iran.

• Abdolrahim Mousavi led the Army’s Northeast Operational Base and managed important operations in that region.

• He also worked as the Deputy for Training and the Deputy for Planning and Programs in the Army Ground Forces.

• Reportedly, during these roles, Abdolrahim Mousavi improved the army’s readiness and strategy, and then, he was made the Head of Operations for the Army.
  

  Abdolrahim Mousavi with Mohammad Bagheri (left) while inspecting Iran’s subterranean military drone base

• Later, he was appointed as the Director of the Army Strategic Studies Centre, where he focused on research and military policy planning.

• In 2022, Abdolrahim Mousavi was involved in the Iranian Army’s violent crackdown on the Mahsa Amini protests.

• He called these protests “riots” and said that they were planned by Iran’s enemies. He saw them as a national security threat.

• Abdolrahim Mousavi has been sanctioned by the US, European Union, United Kingdom, and Australia.

• In 2023, the US sanctioned him for human rights abuses. The order blocked all his property and assets under US control or held by US persons.

• The European Union also sanctioned him for various human rights violations in Iran.

• On 13 June 2025, after the death of Mohammad Bagheri in Israeli airstrikes, Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei appointed Mousavi as the new Chief of General Staff.