Then he joined the imperial guards in 1946. In 1967, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general and served as second-in-command in the guards. In 1971, he became a major general and was appointed commander of the immortal guards in 1973. In 1975, he was made lieutenant general and was appointed commander of the imperial guards in 1976. In February 1979, Badrei publicly stated that the army would not follow the orders of Prime Minister Shahpour Bakhtiar.