IRNA � Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Vice-Admiral Ali Shamkhani in a message on Sunday congratulated appointment of Brigadier General Hossein Salami as new commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC).

The message reads, �I congratulate you on appointment as IRGC chief commander.�

No doubt that confidence of Supreme Leader in you and ceding the great and strategic responsibility to you is originated in your piety, revolutionary policy, knowledge and experience in various managerial positions of the IRGC, which can serve as a valuable asset to help improve the entity�s speed on the path of elevation, it added.

�Hopefully, the valuable appointment on the auspicious birth anniversary of Imam Mahdi (AS) would serve as a source of blessing for the IRGC and armed forces and our dear country Iran,� he said.

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Sunday appointed Hossein Salami, a senior IRGC commander, as the new chief commander of the military force, promoting him to the rank of major general. Salami replaced Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari.