Hassan Firouzabadi

Seyed Hassan Firuzabadi (Persian: سيد حسن فيروزآبادی‎‎, born 3 February 1951 in Mashhad) is an Iranian retired major general and the former Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces. He was removed from his position as chief of staff on June 28, 2016 and replaced by his deputy Mohammad Bagheri. General Firouzabadi was tapped to serve as a senior adviser to his successor.

Firuzabadi was born on 3 February 1951 in Mashhad, Iran and started his education in that city. He then graduated from Mashhad University of Medical Sciences with a degree in veterinary medicine. After the Iranian Revolution, he joined Sepah Pasdaran and participated in the Iran-Iraq War.

Firouzabadi has been active in the Military of Iran since 1981, when he was joined the Sepah Pasdaran. He was a general in the Iran-Iraq War. After the war, he became Deputy Director of Khatam al-Anbia, having been appointed by President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. He then became Deputy Chief of Staff of the Military in 1989 and was appointed Chief of Staff by Ali Khamenei on 2 November 2002.

Firouzabadi is close to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, and supported Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's candidacy for president of Iran. In May 2012, he gave a speech at a conference in Tehran in which he stated that "the Iranian nation is standing for its cause that is the full annihilation of Israel." The Fars News Agency also noted that Firouzabadi "reminded the gatherers [sic] that the Iranian Supreme Leader considers defending Palestine as a full religion duty and believes that any kind of governance and rule by anyone other than the Palestinians is an instance of usurpation.”

Firouzabadi's remarks were later cited by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who argued that such statements are further evidence that “Iran wants to eliminate Israel and it is working to attain nuclear weapons in order to achieve that ambition.”