Iran Appoints New Security Chief

PHOTO CAPTION: FILE PHOTO: Adviser to Iran's supreme leader Mohsen Rezaei attends a farewell ceremony for Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28 during Israeli and U.S. airstrikes on Iran, for international delegates at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla in Tehran, Iran, July 3, 2026. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

DUBAI, Aug. 10 — Iran has appointed former Revolutionary Guards commander Mohsen Rezaei as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, making him second-in-command of the body that coordinates the country’s security and foreign policy.

Rezaei, a more outspoken public figure than his predecessor Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, was appointed in a move announced late Sunday by the deputy communications director for President Masoud Pezeshkian. No reason was given for the change, and it was not immediately clear whether it would lead to a shift in policy.

Zolqadr had served as SNSC secretary only since late March, after his predecessor Ali Larijani was killed in an airstrike during the war between Iran and the United States and Israel.

The leadership change comes as Iran remains engaged in negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz. Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Saturday that Iran and Oman were “very close” to an agreement on a new shipping route through the strait, which has been largely closed during five months of war, though he said reopening it would depend on other conditions including U.S. compensation to Iran.

Zolqadr had outlined additional Iranian demands, including an end to U.S. threats against Iran, a halt to aggression against Iran and its Lebanese, Palestinian, Yemeni and Iraqi allies, the lifting of a blockade and sanctions, and the release of Iranian assets.

Veteran of Iran’s security establishment

The Supreme National Security Council is formally chaired by Iran’s elected president and includes senior military, intelligence and government officials as well as representatives of the supreme leader, who has ultimate authority over state affairs.

Rezaei, 71, commanded the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps from 1981 to 1997, including through much of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. He later served for more than two decades as secretary of Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council and was vice president for economic affairs from 2021 to 2023 under President Ebrahim Raisi.

Rezaei holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Tehran but has spent much of his career in Iran’s security and political establishment.

Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei also appointed Rezaei as his representative on the SNSC in a decree issued Sunday, placing him alongside fellow hardliner Saeed Jalili. The decree cited Rezaei’s “valuable experiences,” including his role during the Iran-Iraq war, and appointed Zolqadr as the supreme leader’s political adviser.

(Source: Reuters)