General Mohammad Ali Jafari has been the Chief Commander of the Iranian Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution (also known as the Revolutionary Guard) since 2007. It is a 300,000 strong elite faction of the Iranian armed forces separate from the armies that report directly to the Velayat-e Faqih. The Revolutionary Guard Corps occupies cabinet positions, parliament seats, and controls an extensive business empire, which it partially used to fund and direct Shia movements abroad such as Hezbollah and the Mahdi Army. Because of this, Jafari has a significant degree of influence in Iraq and Lebanon.