President Donald Trump on April 8 designated the Guards a terrorist organization Channel announced appointment of Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami to the position DUBAI: Iran’s top authority Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has replaced the chief commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards, state TV reported on Sunday, days after the United States designated the group a foreign terrorist organization. The TV station did not give a reason for the change when it announced the appointment of Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami to the position. “The Supreme Leader has appointed Salami as the new commander-in-chief of the Guards, who will replace Mohammad Ali Jafari,” it said. Jafari had held the post since September 2007. President Donald Trump on April 8 designated the Guards a terrorist organization, in an unprecedented step that drew Iranian condemnation and raised concerns about retaliatory attacks on US forces. The designation took effect on April 15. The Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is in charge of Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs. Tehran has warned that it has missiles with a range of up to 2,000 km (1,242 miles), putting Israel and US military bases in the region within reach