The Iranian government has appointed Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as the head of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC). The announcement was made by President Masoud Pezeshkian's deputy for communications on X. Zolghadr succeeds Ali Larijani, who was killed in a US-Israeli air strike earlier this month, amid escalating regional tensions.
The SNSC, formally chaired by President Pezeshkian, coordinates Iran's security and foreign policy, incorporating representatives of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, along with top military, intelligence, and government officials. Zolghadr's appointment is seen as bolstering the IRGC's influence in politics, given his background as a veteran of the 1980s war, former head of the IRGC's joint staff, and deputy commander-in-chief of the elite force.
Zolghadr served as deputy interior minister for security and police in the government of then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005, a move that reportedly enhanced the IRGC's political clout at the time. Since 2023, he has been the secretary of the Expediency Council, a powerful advisory and mediating body between Iran's various power structures and the supreme leader.
This appointment consolidates the IRGC's growing sway in Iran, occurring against a backdrop of uncertainty in top-level decision-making, particularly as Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen publicly since succeeding his assassinated father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in early March. Larijani, one of Iran's most prominent non-clerical political figures, was killed last week, a development that coincided with a spiraling regional war, disruptions in global energy markets, and economic turmoil worldwide.
The conflict shows no signs of de-escalation, with US President Donald Trump allegedly claiming to be in talks with an unidentified "top person" while extending a deadline to strike Iran's power plants by five days. Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf stated that "no negotiations" are underway, accusing Trump of seeking "to manipulate the financial and oil markets".
Source: www.aljazeera.com