Iran Names Hardliner Mohsen Rezaei to Top Security Council Post

Iran has appointed Mohsen Rezaei as secretary of its Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), elevating a prominent hardliner and close ally of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to the role. The appointment comes more than five months into the country's conflict with the United States.

Rezaei replaces Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr as second-in-command of the body that coordinates Iran's security and foreign policy. The council is chaired by President Masoud Pezeshkian. Zolqadr has been appointed as a political adviser to Khamenei.

Rezaei, 71, joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and became its commander in 1981 at age 27. He led the IRGC for 16 years, including through most of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, overseeing the expansion of its ground, naval, and air capabilities. He is part of a generation of commanders who emerged from the revolutionary underground and later became senior figures in Iran's security apparatus.

Since leaving his IRGC command, Rezaei has remained a prominent figure in Iran's political and security establishment and has been a perennial presidential candidate. He served as vice president for economic affairs from 2021 to 2023 under former President Ebrahim Raisi. He holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Tehran.

Rezaei was appointed military adviser to Khamenei in March, after the Supreme Leader took over from his father, the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. During the conflict, Rezaei has voiced deep skepticism about negotiations and has made threats against the United States.

In April, he said it would be "great" if the U.S. launched a ground invasion of Iran, claiming Iran would take thousands of hostages and demand a billion dollars for each. He also stated he was not in favor of extending the ceasefire. In June, before Iran signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war, Rezaei said the agreement had ambiguities. Later that month, he accused Washington of violating the deal by creating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz.

Khamenei issued a decree on Sunday appointing Rezaei as his representative on the SNSC, citing his "valuable experience," including his long military career.

Rezaei was active in the opposition to the Pahlavi monarchy while still a teenager and was imprisoned by the Shah's security service, SAVAK, in 1973. He helped establish the Mansouroun militant group, active against the monarchy in the 1970s. Members of the group who were imprisoned together later formed part of the IRGC's senior leadership.

His record during the Iran-Iraq war has been controversial. Critics have questioned his role in costly offensives that resulted in heavy Iranian casualties, including Operation Karbala-4, a December 1986 assault aimed at breaking through Iraqi defenses toward Basra. In 2018, Rezaei sparked renewed controversy by tweeting that Karbala-4 had been carried out to deceive the enemy ahead of Karbala-5. He later clarified that the operation was originally intended as a genuine offensive but that Iran used its failure as a deception. His comments drew criticism from veterans, bereaved families, and senior political figures.