Iran appoints Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr as security council chief, replacing slain Ali Larijani

Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, a former commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has been appointed as the new chief of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), replacing his slain predecessor Ali Larijani, state television reported.Zolghadr currently serves as the Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council, a key body that advises Iran’s supreme leadership. Over the years, he has held several senior roles within the country’s political and security establishment.He previously served as deputy interior minister for security affairs during the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and later worked in the judiciary as deputy for strategic, societal security and crime prevention affairs.

The appointment comes amid escalating fighting in West Asia and follows recent strikes that killed several senior Iranian officials including Larijani, reshaping the country’s leadership structure.Ali Larijani, a powerful figure in the Islamic Republic, was killed in an Israeli strike last week. His death came days after Israel killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war on February 28, making Larijani one of the highest-ranking Iranian officials to be killed in the conflict.

Just 24 hours after the US-Israel airstrikes that killed Khamenei and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Mohammad Pakpour, Larijani appeared on state television with a strong message.“America and the Zionist regime [Israel] have set the heart of the Iranian nation ablaze,” he wrote on social media. “We will burn their hearts. We will make the Zionist criminals and the shameless Americans regret their actions.”“The brave soldiers and the great nation of Iran will deliver an unforgettable lesson to the hellish international oppressors,” he added.Larijani, who had accused US president Donald Trump of falling into an “Israeli trap”, was at the centre of the Iranian leadership’s response to what has been described as the country’s biggest crisis since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.Following Khamenei’s death, he played a key role alongside a three-member transitional council that took charge of governing Iran during the crisis.