Iran Appoints New Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Amid Ongoing Conflict
Iran has appointed Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr as the new secretary of its Supreme National Security Council, replacing Ali Larijani, who was killed in an air strike. On Tuesday, Iranian official television verified the news. Former Iranian Revolutionary Guard leader Zolghadr is a brigadier general. Before this appointment, he was working as the secretary of Iran’s Expediency Council. Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, new Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, has held several key military, security and judicial roles over the years. He was previously the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, where he oversaw the Basij, a volunteer paramilitary group. He is currently a top leader in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). His career also includes positions in the judiciary, where he served as Deputy for Social Protection and Crime Prevention from 2009 to 2011 and as Strategic Deputy from 2011 to 2019. Zolghadr has also held significant positions in the IRGC, including Chief of Staff and Deputy and Vice Commander. He oversaw the IRGC's Ramazan Headquarters before entering politics and serving as Vice Minister and Deputy for Security and Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Interior during the ninth regime. He also served as the General Staff of the Armed Forces' Deputy for Basij Affairs. He has worked in political and institutional capacities outside of the military and administration, such as leading the Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces' Electoral Headquarters. He was the Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council prior to his most recent appointment. One of Iran's most influential leaders, Ali Larijani, was killed in an Israeli strike amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. He was sixty-seven. Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz announced that Larijani was killed in an overnight attack as part of the US-Israel war on Iran. The last time Larijani was spotted in public was on Friday at Tehran's al-Quds Day procession. Larijani was the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council. Larijani was regarded for many years as the calm and sensible face of Iran's political establishment. He was well-known for both his intellectual and political prowess, having contributed to nuclear talks with Western nations and authored works on the German philosopher Immanuel Kant. But as the conflict started, his tone drastically changed. Larijani took a far more assertive attitude when he appeared on state television on March 1, the day after Khamenei and IRGC commander Mohammad Pakpour were murdered in US-Israeli strikes. Larijani was born in Najaf, Iraq, on June 3, 1958, into a powerful and affluent Iranian family that was originally from Amol. Mirza Hashem Amoli, his father, was a well-known religious scholar. His brothers also held influential positions in the judiciary and the Assembly of Experts, which is in charge of choosing and supervising the Supreme Leader. Larijani had close personal ties to the revolutionary leadership of Iran. He married Farideh Motahari, the daughter of Ruhollah Khomeini's close ally Morteza Motahhari, when he was twenty years old. His children followed different courses in spite of his traditional upbringing. Fatemeh, his daughter, completed her specialization at Cleveland State University in the United States after graduating from the University of Tehran. “America and the Zionist regime [Israel] have set the heart of the Iranian nation ablaze,” he wrote on social media. “We will burn their hearts. We will make the Zionist criminals and the shameless Americans regret their actions. “The brave soldiers and the great nation of Iran will deliver an unforgettable lesson to the hellish international oppressors,” he added. Larijani had also accused US President Donald Trump of falling into an “Israeli trap.” He played a key role in Iran's reaction to the conflict, collaborating closely with the three-person transitional council that assumed leadership following Khamenei's passing.
