September 3, 2021
Former chief of the joint staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firuzabadi has passed away at the age of 70. According to Fars news agency, he died September 3 from the corona-virus.
Firouzabadi served as chief of the joint staff of the Iranian Armed Forces the highest uniformed position in Iran for 27 years, from 1989 to 2016.
Since then, he had been a senior military adviser to the Supreme Leader.
He also served as the sole military member of the Expediency Council, which is tasked with settling disputes between the Majlis and Council of Guardians, among other things.
Firuzabadi was the first officer of the Iranian post-revolutionary military to be named a major general, two-star rank, which remains the highest rank in the Iranian military.
Firuzabadi might appear to have been a curious pick for the highest post in the military as he was an ophthalmologist by training.
General Firuzabadi also had a life-long struggle with obesity and was sometimes subject to ridicule as he overfilled his uniform. A video of his funeral showed his eight military pallbearers had great difficulty handling his casket, which almost fell to the ground at one point.
He drew rare notice in the Western world when he charged that Western intelligence agencies had planted lizards in Iran as spies. “We found that their [lizard] skin attracts atomic waves and that they were nuclear spies who wanted to find out where in the Islamic Republic we have uranium mines and where we are engaged in nuclear activities,” he said.
Firuzabadi became chief of the military one year after the end of the Iran-Iraq War. During the war, he held a variety of non-combat posts, including commander of chemical, microbial and atomic defense, chief of shelters and civil defense, as well as director of search and rescue operations.