Ahmad Vahidi ( fa, احمد وحیدی, born 27 June 1958) is an Iranian military commander of the

Revolutionary Guards The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...

and current

Minister of Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

since August 25, 2021. In addition, he is currently member of the

Expediency Discernment Council The Expediency Discernment Council of the System ( fa, مجمع تشخیص مصلحت نظام ''Majma'-e Taškhīs-e Maslahat-e Nezām'') is an administrative assembly appointed by the Supreme Leader and was created upon the revision to the Co ...

. In 1988, he was appointed as the commander of its extraterritorial special forces,

Quds Force The Quds Force ( fa, نیروی قدس, niru-ye qods, Jerusalem Force) is one of five branches of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) specializing in unconventional warfare and military intelligence operations. U.S. Army's Iraq War ...

. He was the minister of defense under

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدی‌نژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956),

, having held the post from 3 September 2009 until 15 August 2013. Vahidi was formerly president of the Supreme National Defense University from August 2016 to 2021.

Early life and education

Vahidi was born on 27 June 1958 in

Shiraz Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the population of the city was 1,565,572 p ...

. His real name is Ahmad Shah Cheraghi (his nickname is Vahid). He holds a bachelor's degree in electronics and a master's degree in industrial engineering. He received a PhD in strategic studies from

Imam Sadegh University The Imam Sadiq University is an Islamic private university in Tehran, Iran. Established in 1982, the goal of the university is to bridge the gap between Islamic researches and modern studies, especially humanities. Imam Sadiq was established ...

Career

Vahidi joined Revolutionary Guards in 1979. He was made deputy to the then Revolutionary Guards commander Mohsen Rezai for intelligence affairs in 1981. The same year he was also named commander of the Balaal base. In 1983, he joined the

, a unit of the Revolutionary Guards that is responsible for operations outside of Iran. He holds the rank of brigadier general. Vahidi was appointed deputy minister of defense in 2005 when

Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar Mostafa Mohammad Najjar ( fa, مصطفى محمدنجّار, born 2 December 1956) is an Iranian politician and retired IRGC general. He was interior minister of Iran from 2009 to 2013 and minister of defense in the first cabinet of Mahmoud Ahmad ...

became minister of defense. He was in office until 2009. In August 2009, he was appointed

minister of defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in s ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

and on 3 September 2009, the

Majlis ( ar, المجلس, pl. ') is an Arabic term meaning "sitting room", used to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups of administrative, social or religious nature in countries with linguistic or cultural conne ...

endorsed Vahidi as minister of defense with vote of 227 of 286. He received 79.3% of the votes of the members of the parliament. Vahidi's term ended on 15 August 2013 and

Hossein Dehghan Hossein Dehghani Poudeh ( fa, حسین دهقانی پوده; born 2 March 1957), commonly known as Hossein Dehghan, is a former IRGC air force officer with the rank of brigadier general and the former minister of defense of Iran. He was designat ...

replaced him in the post.

Controversies

Vahidi has been wanted by

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cr ...

since 2007 for his alleged participation in the bombing of the Jewish community center in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, Argentina, on 18 July 1994, in which 85 people died. Vahidi was serving as the commander of a special unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guard known as the Quds Force when the attack occurred. He is one of five Iranians sought in the bombing. Iran denies that it was involved. In June 2010, Vahidi was

blacklisted Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, ...

by the U.S Government, a measure which is aimed at freezing the assets of proliferators of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their supporters, thereby isolating them from the U.S. financial and commercial systems. In May 2011, Vahidi paid an official visit to

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

. Upon this event in June 2011, Bolivia apologized to Argentina for Ahmad Vahidi visiting the country, and announced that he would be leaving the country immediately. In August 2021, Vahidi was made

Interior Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

by then-newly elected president

Ebrahim Raisi Sayyid Ebrahim Raisolsadati ( fa, سید ابراهیم رئیس‌الساداتی; born 14 December 1960), commonly known as Ebrahim Raisi ( fa, ابراهیم رئیسی ), is an Iranian principlist politician, Muslim jurist, and the eight ...

. This triggered condemnation from Argentina given his suspected role in the 1994 AMIA bombing, with the now former head of the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship ( es, Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Comercio Internacional y Culto; MRECIC), informally referred to as the Chancellery ( es, Cancillería), is the Government of Argentina, A ...

describing the appointment of Vahidi as "an insult to Argentina and a blow to the families of the victims" of the bombing. The

Simon Wiesenthal Center The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is a Jewish human rights organization established in 1977 by Rabbi Marvin Hier. The center is known for Holocaust research and remembrance, hunting Nazi war criminals, combating anti-Semitism, tolerance educat ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

also issued a statement calling the appointment a setback for the families of the attack victims.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vahidi, Ahmed 1958 births Living people Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps brigadier generals Government ministers of Iran Defence ministers of Iran Quds Force personnel Islamic Revolution Committees personnel Iranian individuals subject to the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions