Qasem-Ali Zahirnejad

Qasem-Ali Zahir Nejad Persian: قاسمعلی زاهرنژاد (1924 – 13 October 1999)[1] was a major general in the Army of Iran after the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Timsar Qasem-Ali Zahirnejad Persian: قاسمعلی زاهرنژاد
Qasem-Ali Zahirnejad
Born	1924 Ardabil, Sublime State of Persia
Died	13 October 1999(1999-10-13) (aged 74–75) Tehran, Iran
Allegiance	Iran
Service/branch	Ground Force
Years of service	1944–1976; 1979–1989
Rank	Major general
Commands held	64th Infantry Division Gendarmerie Ground Force Joint Staff
Battles/wars	Iran crisis of 1946 Kurdish rebellion Iran–Iraq War
Awards	Order of Nasr

Zahirnejad began studies in the Military University (Imam Ali) in 1951. He retired from the army in 1976 as a colonel. After the 1979 revolution he returned to the army at the beginning of the unrest in Kurdistan and in 1979 as commander of Division 64 of Urmia. In 1980 he was promoted to brigadier general to command the Iranian Gendarmerie and Army. On 9 October 1981 was promoted to the position of President of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

During the Iran–Iraq War, his insistent implementation of military army commanders and regular tactics led to clashes with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the Iranian armed forces that relies on the use of mostly light infantry together with some armored equipment as well as unorthodox military tactics. He achieved the rank of major general on 6 November 1989. In 1999 he died of a stroke.