Info:
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. 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.
Bahman Reyhani (Reyhani) is the IRGC Commander of Kermanshah Province and the Nabi Akram Corps. Reyhani commanded unitsreportedly tasked with suppressing dissent and protests, which they did brutally during the November 2019 protests throughout Iran; 1,230 people were reportedly arrested in Kermanshah during the November 2019. He also reportedly commanded IRGC units that attacked civilians protesting in Javanroud following the death of Mahsa Amini.
Kermanshah province has seen violent crackdowns by Iranian security forces, including the IRGC, during the 2022 protests. Reyhani is among those responsible for the IRGC violence against protestors in Kermanshah province.
He is therefore responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran.
Aside 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.
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.
Designated by the Canadian government in July 2010 as an entity contributing to Iran’s proliferation-sensitive nuclear activities or to its development of chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons or their delivery systems; designation prohibits Canadian parties from providing goods or financial services to the entity or dealing in property held by the entity; reportedly an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC); major-general and deputy commander of the Kermanshah region.
During 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. Amnesty International published a report and confirmed the identity of 700 of the victims of the November protests. 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.” Reyhani announced the “arrest and identification of most of the leaders” of the Aban protests.
The IRGC has also played a critical role in the regime’s efforts to violently suppress protests. IRGC units have used lethal force against peaceful protestors, subjected political opponents of the regime to beatings and electrocutions, prevented medical equipment and aid from reaching the wounded in hospitals, and committed numerous other heinous acts against the people of Iran. Treasury designated the IRGC pursuant to E.O. 13553 on June 9, 2011, and E.O. 13606 on April 23, 2012, in connection with the IRGC’s human rights abuses.
Positions:
– Deputy Commander of Nabi Akram Corps, Kermanshah Province (2011 – 2014)
– Commander of Nabi Akram Corps, Kermanshah Province (2014 – present)
Human Rights Violation:
Killing and suppressing protesters (November 2019)
Also Known As:
(Arabic: بهمن ریحانی)
DOB:
20 Feb 1965
Country:
Iran
Address:
Kermanshah, Iran
Nationality:
Iran
Passport:
E51007873 (Iran) expires 30 Sep 2024