TEHRAN – Major General Mohammad Pakpour, the new commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps, wrote a letter to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stating that “the sinister and illegitimate regime of Israel will find a bitter and painful fate with great and destructive consequences.”

Pakpour was named the IRGC chief on Friday, replacing Major General Mohammad Salami who was assassinated in the Israeli air strikes on Iran early Friday morning.  

“The crime that the terrorist Zionist regime committed today in violating the Islamic Republic of Iran’s national security and territorial integrity definitely will not go unanswered,” Pakpour said in part of his letter.

He added with a reliance on the Almighty God to realize the promises of Imam Khomeini and the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Iran’s armed forces “will take avenge of the blood of commanders, scientists, and people… and the gates of hell will soon open to this child-killing regime.”