Mohsen Rezaei, one of the Islamic Republic's most enduring military figures, has been named secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, a body that shapes Tehran's strategic decisions. The appointment, announced on Sunday via a presidential decree from Masoud Pezeshkian, places a man with an Interpol Red Notice at the centre of Iran's security establishment.
Hours before the decree, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei had separately designated Rezaei as his personal representative on the council, underscoring the trust the clerical leadership places in him. Rezaei, 71, succeeds Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, a veteran Revolutionary Guards commander who resigned after roughly four months in the post and has since become a political adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
In his first public remarks after taking office, Rezaei struck a defiant tone: he ruled out opening a second shipping corridor in the Strait of Hormuz, warned that US warships entering the strait would be targeted, and insisted that the war must end and Iran's frozen assets be released before the waterway could reopen. The comments signal continuity with the hardline posture that has defined Iranian policy in recent years.
From revolutionary activist to IRGC commander
Born in 1954 in Khuzestan province to a Bakhtiari tribal family, Rezaei began his political life as an opponent of Shah Reza Pahlavi. In the early 1970s, he was arrested by SAVAK, the shah's intelligence agency, and imprisoned in Ahvaz. He later helped found the Mansouroun militant group, which contributed to the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organisation.
After the 1979 revolution, Rezaei joined the central council of the new Islamic Republic and served on a 12-member committee that drafted the constitution of the Revolutionary Guards. In September 1981, at just 27, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini appointed him commander-in-chief of the IRGC. He held that position for 16 years, making him one of the longest-serving military commanders in the country's history, before stepping down in 1997.
Following his military career, Rezaei spent nearly 24 years as secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council, the body that arbitrates between parliament and the Guardian Council and sets broad state policy. In 2021, he was appointed deputy president for economy under Ebrahim Raisi, a post he left in June 2023.
Despite his institutional prominence, Rezaei has run for president four times and lost each time. In the 2021 election, he received 3.4 million votes—fewer than the number of invalid ballots cast.
The Buenos Aires bombing and the Interpol notice
Rezaei's name has long been linked internationally to the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people and injured hundreds in Argentina's deadliest terrorist attack. In 2007, Argentine prosecutors sought arrest warrants for nine people, including Rezaei, who was then IRGC commander. Interpol issued a Red Notice against him that remains in force.
Tehran and Rezaei have consistently denied any involvement, dismissing the allegations as politically motivated. The case has nonetheless had practical consequences: Argentina protested his appointment as deputy economic president in 2021, previously objected to his attendance at Nicaraguan presidential inaugurations, and asked Qatar to arrest and extradite him during a visit to Doha—a request that was not carried out.
Domestic controversies
Within Iran, Rezaei's most contentious episode as military commander was Operation Karbala-4, a December 1986 assault during the Iran-Iraq war intended to retake parts of the Faw area. The operation was detected and repelled by Iraqi forces, resulting in heavy Iranian casualties, including frogmen units. In 2015, the remains of 175 divers who participated in the operation, reportedly buried with their hands tied, were discovered and identified.
Rezaei later claimed that continuing the operation after it had been compromised was a deliberate deception ahead of the larger Operation Karbala-5, the siege of Basra. That explanation drew sharp criticism from former officials, journalists, and social media users. Qassem Soleimani, then commander of the Quds Force, contradicted the account, saying Karbala-4 had been the primary operation all along.
Another controversy emerged in November 2011, when Rezaei's eldest son Ahmad, who had defected to the US and given media interviews critical of senior officials, was found dead in a Dubai hotel room. Dubai police attributed the death to an overdose of antidepressants, but Rezaei's family and the Expediency Council secretariat rejected that conclusion and described the death as suspicious. The cause has never been conclusively established.
A regime in flux
Rezaei's appointment comes at a turbulent time for the Islamic Republic. The US and Israel have launched broad strikes against Iranian military targets, and the country faces internal dissent and economic strain. His elevation to the security council suggests the leadership is consolidating around figures with deep revolutionary credentials, even as the regime navigates an uncertain future.
For European observers, the appointment carries implications beyond the Middle East. Iran's security decisions affect maritime routes, nuclear diplomacy, and regional stability—all of which resonate in Brussels and European capitals. The security-first politics that have come to define EU migration policy are mirrored in Tehran's own hardline approach, though the two are hardly comparable in scale or intent.
As Rezaei takes the helm of the security council, his past—both the unresolved bombing case and the domestic controversies—will likely shadow his new role. Whether he can steer Iran through its current crises remains to be seen, but his appointment signals that the Islamic Republic's old guard is not ready to cede ground.
