Manama: Hassan Danaifar, Iran's new ambassador to Iraq, is an important figure in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and resents the Kurdish inclination towards separatism.

Hassan Danaifar, born in Baghdad in 1962, was deported with his family by Saddam Hussain during the Iraq-Iran war (1980-88) because of his Iranian origins and initially joined the Badr militia, Kuwaiti daily Al Watan reported on Friday, quoting Iraqi media.

He has served as deputy commander of the naval forces of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The ambassador who will take up his post this week has close relations with many Shiite politicians, particularly Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki.
He replaces ambassador Hassan Qomi.