Kioumars Heydari

Kioumars Heydari is the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces. He previously served as Commander of the Iranian Army Ground Forces and as Deputy Commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters. Heydari was born in 1964 in Sahneh, Kermanshah Province. He began his military career in 1982, during the Iran–Iraq War, as a volunteer with the Basij. In 1984, he joined the Islamic Republic of Iran Army and began serving in the Ground Forces with the 81st Armored Division in Kermanshah, as an infantry officer. In the following years, he held a series of command positions at the platoon, company, and battalion levels. In 1998, he was appointed commander of the Ground Forces' Southwestern Regional Headquarters, a position he held until 2005. That year, he was promoted to brigadier general and briefly served as Deputy for Operations of the Ground Forces. From 2005 to 2008, he served as Coordinating Deputy and Chief of Staff of the Ground Forces. In 2008, he was appointed Deputy Commander of the Ground Forces, serving in the position for more than eight years, until November 2016. In November 2016, Heydari was appointed Commander of the Iranian Army Ground Forces, becoming the branch's 17th commander. He remained in the position until December 2025. Following the end of his tenure, he was appointed Deputy Commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, and in August 2026, Iran's Supreme Leader appointed him Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces.