Bahman Reyhani (Persian: بهمن ریحانی; Kurdish: بەهمەن رەیحانی) is an Iranian commander. On June 20, 2014, he was appointed as the commander of the Kermanshah Nebi Akram Corps, a Kurdish force in the IRGC located in Kermanshah province, based on the order of Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the IRGC at the time, in a ceremony attended by Hossein Salami, the deputy commander of the IRGC at the time.[1] Reyhani has played a decisive role in helping the victims of the 2018 Sarpol-e Zahab earthquake. Bahman Reyhani was included in the sanctions list of the European Union on December 21, 2022, due to gross violations of human rights in Iran.[2]
Background
editAside from his IRGC service, rarely anything is known about his personal life. He is an ethnic Kurd and a Kermanshah native. Before assuming the command of Nabi Akram Corps, from 2008 to 2014, he was the deputy commander of Nabi Akram Corps of Kermanshah province. Before that, he also worked as the regional commander of Basij in Kermanshah province.[3][4]
In March 2019, Bahman Rayhani was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General by Ali Khamenei, the Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Republic of Iran.[5]
Protests
editDuring many different waves of protests in Iran, most notably the 2019–2020 Iranian protests and the Mahsa Amini protests, Reyhani and his corps targeted citizens with direct fire. According to Reuters, these protests left 1,500 dead.[6] Amnesty International published a report and confirmed the identity of 700 of the victims of the November protests.[7] According to this report, during the suppression of these protests in Kermanshah province, at least 92 people died. In a conference honoring the Basijis of Kermanshah, Reyhani insulted the protesters and called them "troublemakers and rioters" and claimed that the detainees confessed that "they were organized by the enemies to destroy public and public property."[8] Reyhani announced the "arrest and identification of most of the leaders" of the Aban protests.[9]
Sanctions
editSimultaneously with the execution of two young people arrested in the nationwide protests, by the verdict of the courts of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Bahman Rayhani, along with 19 other real persons and the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Organization, were placed on the sanctions list of the European Union on December 21, 2022, due to violations of human rights.[10]
References
edit- ^ "فرمانده جدید سپاه نبی اکرم(ص) کرمانشاه معرفی شد". ایسنا (in Persian). 2014-06-10. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
- ^ فردا, رادیو (12 December 2022). "اتحادیه اروپا ۲۰ فرد و سازمان صداوسیما را به‌دلیل نقض فاحش حقوق بشر تحریم کرد". رادیو فردا (in Persian). Retrieved 2023-01-15.
- ^ "سربلندی و اقتدار امروز ایران اسلامی به سبب پایگاه مردمی آن است". www.irna.ir. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
- ^ "*نشست خبري هماهنگي کاروانهاي راهيان نور غرب کشور برگزار شد* سردار کرمي: کرمانشاه در هر چهار فصل سال مي‌تواند ميزبان کاروانهاي راهيان نور سراسر کشور باشد". ایسنا (in Persian). 2008-03-04. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
- ^ "دیدار استاندار کرمانشاه با فرمانده سپاه حضرت نبی اکرم (ص)". jamejamonline.ir (in Persian). 2020-12-24. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
- ^ "رویترز: حدود ۱۵۰۰ نفر در اعتراضات آبان کشته شده‌اند". BBC News فارسی (in Persian). Retrieved 2023-01-15.
- ^ "مشخصات ۳۲۴ نفر از کشته شدگان شناسایی شده اعتراضات آبان ۱۳۹۸". Amnesty International. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
- ^ TABNAK, تابناک | (2018-09-02). "اغتشاشگران برای براندازی نظام آمده بودند". fa (in Persian). Retrieved 2023-01-15.
- ^ "بسیج بی‌نظیرترین تشکل مردمی در جهان است". www.irna.ir. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
- ^ فردا, رادیو (12 December 2022). "اتحادیه اروپا ۲۰ فرد و سازمان صداوسیما را به‌دلیل نقض فاحش حقوق بشر تحریم کرد". رادیو فردا (in Persian). Retrieved 2023-01-15.