Hossein Taeb

Hujjat al-Islam
Sardar
Hossein Taeb
حسین طائب
Hojjatol Eslam Hossein Taeb visiting university students at Shahed University, Tehran.
6th and 10th Commander of the Basij
Incumbent
Assumed office
10 August 2026
PresidentMasoud Pezeshkian
Supreme LeaderMojtaba Khamenei
Preceded byGholamreza Soleimani
In office
12 July 2008 – 4 October 2009
PresidentMahmoud Ahmadinejad
Supreme LeaderAli Khamenei
Preceded byMohammad Ali Jafari (acting)
Mohammad Hejazi
Succeeded byMohammad Reza Naqdi
Director of the IRGC Intelligence Organization
In office
October 2009 – 23 June 2022
PresidentMahmoud Ahmadinejad
Hassan Rouhani
Ebrahim Raisi
Supreme LeaderAli Khamenei
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byMohammad Kazemi
Personal details
Born1963 (age 62–63)
Tehran, Pahlavi Iran
Military service
Allegiance Iran
Branch/serviceIRGC
Years of service
2026–present
1982–2022
Rank Brigadier General
Battles/wars

Hossein Taeb (Persian: حسین طائب) (born 1963) is an Iranian Shia cleric and a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) official who is the commander of the Basij paramilitary unit. He was formerly head of the Intelligence Organization of the IRGC.

Early life and education

Taeb was born in 1342 (1963/4).

After his middle education, he went to seminary school and reached an advanced degree (kharej) in Islamic jurisprudence after studying in Tehran, Mashhad, and Qom. He had studied with, among others, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Career

Taeb joined the IRGC (which supervises the Basij) in 1361 (1982/3), beginning his work in Region 10 of Tehran, and continued on to Qom and Mashhad. For a while he was IRGC coordinator with the Supreme Leader of Iran as well as the cultural commander of Imam Hossein College.

Under Taeb's command, the Basij played a key role in suppressing protests over the controversial 2009 Iranian presidential elections. The suppression saw the death of at least dozens of protesters on the streets or in prison. He was also involved in other controversial activities, such as: involvement in the "chain murders" of Iranian intellectuals in the 1990s, and targeting of Iranian dissidents abroad, including assassinations.

In public statements Taeb cautioned Iranians that the United States was "hiring agents and mercenaries in an effort to continue its plots for a soft overthrow of the Islamic Republic," according to the Iranian Fars news agency. Taeb has also stated that the post-election "anti-government riots" "killed eight members of the Basij and wounded 300 others."

In 2022, he and his family members were sanctioned by the US Department of State for his involvement in human rights violations in Iran.

Taeb was dismissed from his position as head of Intelligence of the IRGC in June 2022. This is speculated to be due to an incident where an alleged Iranian operation to attack Israeli tourists in Turkey was outed, resulting in the arrest of the agents and a diplomatic spat with Turkey, as well as other incidents that suggested successful Israeli spy operations that Taeb failed to prevent. The dismissal also coincided with the arrest of Brigadier General Ali Nasiri on suspicion of spying for Israel.

On 10 August 2026, Taeb was appointed commander of the Basij, four years after former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei dismissed him as head of the IRGC Intelligence Organization. The appointment came amid uncertainty over Mojtaba Khamenei's status, with unconfirmed reports questioning whether he remains alive.

Offices

As of 2009, the list of his responsibilities included:

Personal life

Taeb lost a brother in the Operation Karbala-5 during the Iran–Iraq War. He is married with three children.

International sanctions

Private property of Hossein Taeb is frozen by the European Union and he is not allowed to enter Europe because "forces under his command participated in mass beatings, murders, detentions and tortures of peaceful protestors." He has also been blacklisted by the U.S. government.

Notes

  1. ↑ According to a biography from the pro-government Iran Student Correspondents Association summarized in the website Iran Rises,

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Hosein Taeb". Iran Rises. 30 August 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009. Archived 19 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ "The Rise of the Iranian Dictatorship". GENEIVE ABDO. 7 October 2009. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
  3. ↑ Kia, Shahriar (29 June 2022). "Who Is Hossein Taeb, Recently Booted From Iran's IRGC Intelligence Organization?". NCRI. Retrieved 10 March 2025.
  4. ↑ "Basij Commander: US Hiring Agents for Soft Overthrow of Islamic Republic". farsnews. 23 September 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009. Archived 29 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ "Iran opposition says 72 died in post-poll unrest". Reuters. 3 September 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  6. ↑ "Report to Congress on Identification of, and Immigration Restrictions on, Senior Officials of the Government of Iran and Their Family Members, 22 USC 8727". United States Department of State. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  7. ↑ "Israel's Spies Have Hit Iran Hard. In Tehran, Some Big Names Paid the Price". www.nytimes.com.
  8. ↑ "Iran Update Special Report, August 10, 2026". Critical Threats. Retrieved 16 August 2026.
  9. ↑ "اطلاعات موازی رسماً جایگزین وزارت اطلاعات می‌شود]" [Parallel Intelligence Officially Replaces the Ministry of Intelligence]. www.hra-news.org. Archived 30 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine هرانا
    هشدار کروبی به وزارت اطلاعات رادیو فرانسه www.rfi.fr
  10. ↑ "Basij Mission Cultural". Iran Daily. 29 June 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  11. ↑ "Iran's Khamenei reshuffles Revolutionary Guards top brass". AFP. 4 October 2009.
  12. ↑ "Khamenei fills six top military posts as key intelligence gaps persist". Iran International. 10 August 2026. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  13. 1 2 Official Journal of the European Union, 14 April 2001: COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) No 359/2011 of 12 April 2011 concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons, entities and bodies in view of the situation in Iran
  14. ↑ "IRAN". U.S. Treasury Department.