Chief of the General Staff (Iraq)

The chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Iraq (Arabic: رئاسة اركان الجيش العراقي, romanized: riasat arkan aljaysh aleiraqiu; is the chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Iraq. He is appointed by the Prime Minister of Iraq, who is the commander-in-chief. The position dates to the period of the Independence of Iraq.^[1] Up until 2003, the Chief of Staff was the second most senior officer in the Armed Forces behind the Minister of Defence.

Chief of the Iraqi General Staff
رئاسة اركان الجيش (Arabic)
Incumbent General Abdel Emir Yarallah since 8 June 2020
Armed Forces of Iraq
Reports to	Minister of Defense
Seat	Green Zone, Baghdad
Appointer	Prime Minister of Iraq
Formation	6 January 1921
First holder	Nuri al-Said
Website	Official website

Since 8 June 2020, the current chief of the General Staff is General Abdel Emir Yarallah.^[2]

List of officeholders

Kingdom of Iraq (1921–1958)

See also: Kingdom of Iraq

No.	Photo	Name (born–died)	Term of office			Ref.
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Lieutenant general Nuri al-Said (1888–1958)	6 January 1921	20 November 1922	1 year, 318 days	[3]
2		Lieutenant general Taha al-Hashimi (1888–1961)	20 November 1922	28 July 1924	1 year, 251 days
In 1924, the position of Chief of Staff of the Army was abolished and his duties were transferred to the position of Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.[4][5]
–		Lieutenant general Nuri al-Said (1888–1958) as Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces	28 July 1924	28 May 1928	3 years, 305 days	[6]
Position reinstated 1928
2		Lieutenant general Taha al-Hashimi (1888–1961)	28 May 1928	29 October 1936	8 years, 154 days
3		Lieutenant general Bakr Sidqi (1890–1937)	29 October 1936	11 August 1937  X	286 days
4		Lieutenant general Abdul Latif Nouri [ar] (1888–1957)	15 August 1937	22 August 1937	7 days	[7][8]
5		Lieutenant general Hussein Fawzi [ar] (1889–?)	22 August 1937	20 February 1940	2 years, 182 days	[9][10]
6		Lieutenant general Amin Zaki Suleiman [ar] (1884–1971)	25 February 1940	29 May 1941	1 year, 93 days
7		Lieutenant general Mohammed Amin Ahmed Al-Omari	29 May 1941	2 June 1941	4 days
8		Lieutenant general Ismail Namik [ar]	2 June 1941	20 December 1944	3 years, 201 days	[11]
9		General Saleh Saeb al-Jubouri [ar] (1898–1993)	20 December 1944	18 August 1951	6 years, 241 days	[12]
10		General Nureddin Mahmud (1899–1981)	18 August 1951	29 January 1953	1 year, 164 days	[12]
11		Major general Hussein Makki Khammas [ar]	29 January 1953	17 September 1953	231 days	[12]
12		Lieutenant general Rafik Arif [ar] (1908–1992)	17 September 1953	14 July 1958	4 years, 300 days	[12]

First Republic of Iraq (1958–1968)

See also: First Republic of Iraq

No.	Photo	Name (born–died)	Term of office			Ref.
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Lieutenant general Ahmed Saleh al-Abdi [ar] (1912–1968)	14 July 1958	8 February 1963	4 years, 209 days	[12]
2		Lieutenant general Tahir Yahya (1916–1986)	8 February 1963	20 November 1963	285 days	[12]
3		Lieutenant general Abdul Rahman Arif (1916–2007)	20 November 1963	15 April 1966	2 years, 146 days	[12]
4		Lieutenant general Hamudi Mahdi [ar]	15 April 1966	17 July 1967	1 year, 93 days	[12]
5		Major general Ibrahim Faisal Ansari [ar] (1920–2010)	17 July 1967	5 August 1968	1 year, 19 days	[12]

Ba'athist Iraq (1968–2003)

See also: Ba'athist Iraq

No.	Photo	Name (born–died)	Term of office			Ref.
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Lieutenant general Hammad Shihab [ar] (1922–1973)	5 August 1968	3 April 1970	1 year, 241 days	[12]
2		General Abdul Jabbar Shanshal (1920–2014)	3 April 1970	15 January 1984	13 years, 287 days	[12]
3		General Abdul Jawad Dhanuun (1936–2020)	15 January 1984	1986	1–2 years	[12]
4		Major general Saaduddin Aziz Mustafa	1986	25 July 1987	0–1 years	[12]
5		General Nizar Al-Khazraji [ar] (born 1936)	25 July 1987	19 September 1990	3 years, 56 days	[12]
6		General Hussein Rashid (born 1940)	19 September 1990	1991	0–1 years	[12]
7		General Iyad Futayyih (1942–2018)	1991	1995	3–4 years	[12]
8		General Sultan Hashim Ahmad al-Tai (1945–2020)	1995	18 July 1995	0 years	[12]
9		General Abdul-Wahid Shannan ar-Ribat (born 1944)	18 July 1995	1999	3–4 years	[12]
10		General Ibrahim Ahmad Abd al-Sattar (1950–2010)	1999	9 April 2003	3–4 years	[12]
On 23 May 2003, the Iraqi Army was dissolved, and all of its officers and personnel were discharged. It was later re-established on 8 August 2003.

Republic of Iraq (2003–present)

See also: Iraq

No.	Photo	Name (born–died)	Term of office			Ref.
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		General Babaker Zebari (born 1947)	8 August 2003	29 June 2015	11 years, 325 days	[13]
2		General Othman al-Ghanmi (born 1958)	29 June 2015	7 May 2020	4 years, 313 days	[14][15] [16][17]
3		General Abdel Emir Yarallah (born 1964)	7 May 2020	Incumbent	4 years, 349 days	[18][19]

See also