The following is the full text of the message issued on January 31, 2016 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, on the demise of Major General Muhammad Salimi (may God bestow paradise on him).
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
It is with deep sorrow and grief that I have been informed that my old friend and colleague in military activities, Major General Muhammad Salimi (God’s mercy be upon him), bid farewell to this transitory realm and joined the Divine after enduring a difficult illness.
This pious and committed military man was one of the few companions in the army who served as an active link between the army, and the apparatus of the Revolution and the structure of the Islamic Republic, beginning from the first weeks after the victory of the Revolution. He was influential in attracting the committed body of the army to the services of the Revolution.
For decades, he rendered valuable services in sensitive military centers such the Ministry of Defense, Army Command, Administrator of Imam’s Advisory Office in the Armed Forces and Chief of Staff of the Irregular Warfare Center in the first years of the Sacred Defense.
I express my condolences for the tragic loss of this sincere colleague to his honorable family and relatives, as well as his colleagues in the Armed Forces, and I ask Allah the Exalted to raise his position.
Sayyid Ali Khamenei
January 31, 2016