Ahmad Shahcheraghi (, born 27 June 1958), better known as Ahmad Vahidi (), is an Iranian military commander of the Iranian

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is a multi-service primary branch of the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces, Iranian Armed Forces. It was officially established by Ruhollah Khom ...

and former Iranian Minister of Interior from 2021 to 2024. He is currently member of the

Expediency Discernment Council The Expediency Discernment Council of the System ( ''Majma'-e Tašxis-e Maslahat-e Nezâm'') is an administrative assembly of Iran appointed by the Supreme Leader of Iran, Supreme Leader and was created upon the revision to the Constitution of ...

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

has issued a red notice for the his arrest in connection with the 1994 AMIA bombing. In 1988, he was appointed commander of the extraterritorial special forces of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the

Quds Force The Quds Force () is one of five branches of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). It specializes in unconventional warfare and military intelligence operations. U.S. Army's Iraq War General Stanley McChrystal describes the Quds Fo ...

, which specializes in

unconventional warfare Unconventional warfare (UW) is broadly defined as "military and quasi-military operations other than conventional warfare" and may use covert forces or actions such as subversion, diversion, sabotage, espionage, biowarfare, sanctions, propaga ...

and military intelligence operations. He was the minister of defense under

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (born Mahmoud Sabbaghian on 28 October 1956) is an Iranian Iranian principlists, principlist and Iranian nationalism, nationalist politician who served as the sixth president of Iran from 2005 to 2013. He is currently a mem ...

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

Early life and education

Ahmad Shah Cheraghi was born on 27 June 1958 in

Shiraz Shiraz (; ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the popu ...

. He holds a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

electronics Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...

and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

industrial engineering Industrial engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, an ...

. He acquired a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in strategic studies from Imam Sadegh University.

Career

Vahidi joined the Iranian

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, and which specializes in

and military intelligence operations. He holds the rank of brigadier general. Vahidi was appointed deputy minister of defense in 2005 when Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar became minister of defense. He was in office until 2009. In August 2009, he was appointed minister of defense by President

. He received 79.3% of the votes of the members of the parliament. Vahidi's term ended on 15 August 2013 and Hossein Dehghan replaced him in the post. He was appointed the temporary chief of the

following the death of

Hossein Salami Hossein Salami (; 1960 – 13 June 2025) was an Iranian military officer who served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from 2019 until 2025 when he was killed by an Israeli airstrike during the Iran–Is ...

during the June 2025 Israeli strikes on Iran.

Controversies

Vahidi has been wanted by

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

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, Argentina, on 18 July 1994, in which 85 people were killed. Vahidi was serving as the commander of a special unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guard known as the Quds Force when the attack took place. 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 of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...

by the U.S government. This measure aims to freeze the assets of proliferators of

weapons of mass destruction A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a Biological agent, biological, chemical weapon, chemical, Radiological weapon, radiological, nuclear weapon, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill or significantly harm many people or cause great dam ...

(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 Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

. In June 2011, Bolivia apologized to Argentina for 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 (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

by the then-newly elected president Ebrahim Raisi. 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 of Argentina 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 antisemitism, tolerance educati ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

also issued a statement calling the appointment a setback for the families of the attack victims. In April 2024, Argentina's criminal court (

Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case; they only interpret the relevant law. In this, they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In ...

) ruled that the attack had been planned by Iran, and carried out by the Iran-backed organization

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

. In May 2024 the Argentine Foreign Ministry officially announced that Interpol had issued a red notice for the arrest of Vahidi in connection with the 1994 AMIA bombing. This red notice states that Vahidi is being sought by Argentina for charges of alleged aggravated murder and damages.

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 U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions Fugitives wanted by Argentina People from Shiraz