General Mohammad Ali Jafari: When the United States and Israel began a large air campaign against Iran under “Operation Epic Fury,” many people believed Iran’s leadership could collapse quickly. Former US President Donald Trump reportedly expected something similar to what happened in Venezuela, where heavy outside pressure was supposed to push a government out of power. But that prediction has not come true.
Almost two weeks into the war, Iran is still responding with attacks in different parts of the Middle East. The country has suffered serious losses, including several important leaders. Yet its military system continues to function and carry out operations.
Many experts believe this ability to keep fighting comes from a special defence system Iran created years ago. This system is called the Mosaic Defence doctrine. It was designed so the country could continue fighting even if its top leaders were killed or if major cities were attacked.
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Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi recently explained how the strategy was developed. He said Iran spent years studying American military campaigns in nearby regions. According to him, the country carried out a “two-decade study” of the wars around it, especially looking at the “defeats of the US military to our immediate east and west.”
Araghchi also said Iran built its strategy after learning from those conflicts. He explained that air strikes alone cannot stop Iran’s military operations. In his words, “We’ve incorporated lessons accordingly. Bombings in our capital have no impact on our ability to conduct war. Decentralised Mosaic Defence enables us to decide when—and how—war will end,” Araghchi has said days after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in US-Israeli strikes.
Who is Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari?
The main figure behind this defence strategy is Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari. He is widely known as the architect of Iran’s “Mosaic Defence.” Jafari once served as the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, also known as the IRGC. He held that position from 2007 until 2019.
Jafari joined the IRGC not long after Iran’s Islamic Revolution. At the start of his career he worked in an intelligence unit that operated in Iran’s Kurdistan province. Over time he became one of the most influential military leaders in the country.
He also reportedly fought in the Iran-Iraq War, a long conflict that lasted from 1979 to 1989. After the war he slowly rose through the ranks of the Revolutionary Guards.
In 1992 he became the overall commander of the IRGC’s ground forces. At the same time he was also given command of Sarallah, which is described as an elite unit within the Guards.
Years later, in 2005, Jafari was appointed director of the IRGC’s Centre for Strategic Studies. This position allowed him to work on new military ideas and strategies. During this time he began shaping the concept that later became known as the Mosaic Defence doctrine.
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The idea was based on lessons Iran learned from earlier wars. One important example was the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a US-led coalition. Iran’s leaders saw how quickly Saddam Hussein’s government collapsed when central power structures were destroyed.
Because of this, Jafari developed a defence system that did not depend too heavily on central leadership. Later in 2007, when he became the commander-in-chief of the IRGC, he began putting this doctrine into practice across Iran’s military structure.
How Mosaic Defence Works?
Mosaic Defence is based on a simple idea. Military power should not sit in just one command centre. If everything is controlled from one place, a single strike could damage the whole system. Iran wanted to avoid that risk, so it spread its military power across many units.
In this system, different forces work together as a network. These include the IRGC, the Basij militia, regular army units, missile forces, naval forces, and local command centres. Even if one part is damaged, the other parts can still operate and continue fighting.
The IRGC itself is divided into 31 provincial commands across the country. Each province has its own command structure, weapons, and intelligence systems. If communication with the top leadership in Tehran is cut off, local commanders can still act and make decisions on their own.
Experts say this strategy was designed to make Iran’s military harder to destroy. It aims to protect the command system and also turn any war with a stronger enemy into a long and difficult fight. The idea was shaped after Iran watched the US invasions of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003, which showed how quickly a government can collapse when its central leadership is removed.
