Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei appointed Brigadier General Mohammad Karami as the IRGC Ground Forces commander on June 19.[36] Karami replaced Major General Mohammad Pak Pour, who held the position since 2009.[37] Khamenei appointed Pak Pour as the IRGC commander on June 13 after the IDF killed former IRGC Commander Major General Hossein Salami on June 12.[38] Karami has decades of experience in internal security and counterinsurgency operations. Karami previously commanded the IRGC Ground Forces Quds Operational Base in southeastern Iran.[39] Karami also served as the governor of Sistan and Baluchistan Province.[40] The United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Canada have sanctioned Karami for his role in violently suppressing protests, including the November 2019 and Mahsa Amini protests in September 2022.[41] Khamenei may have appointed Karami in part due to concerns about potential unrest in Iran, given Karami's background in suppressing internal dissent.[42]