Pezeshkian nominates missile-industry veteran as Iran defense minister

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has nominated Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi as defense minister, moving to fill a post left vacant since Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh was killed in US-Israeli strikes in February.

Sasan Valizadeh, an adviser to the president’s deputy for parliamentary affairs, said Pezeshkian sent the nomination to Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf under Article 133 of the constitution, which requires ministers to win a parliamentary vote of confidence. Lawmakers are expected to review Akhlaghi Ketabchi’s program and policies before scheduling the vote.

The Defense Ministry has been run by Majid Ebn-e-Reza since March 2, when Pezeshkian appointed him acting minister after Nasirzadeh’s death on February 28. Ebn-e-Reza, previously the deputy defense minister, has represented the ministry in domestic and foreign meetings but was never nominated for the permanent post.

Akhlaghi Ketabchi is a longtime Defense Ministry official with deep roots in Iran’s missile and aerospace industries. He was listed by the UN Security Council in 2007 as head of the Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group, a Defense Ministry entity linked to Iran’s ballistic missile program. His name returned to the UN sanctions list when earlier sanctions on Iran were re-applied in September 2025.

Then-defense minister Hossein Dehghan appointed him head of the Aerospace Industries Organization in November 2014. The United States also sanctioned him in 2020, identifying him as director of the Defense Industries Organization and citing conventional arms-related activities.

The nomination also raises the question of how the appointment was cleared at the top of Iran’s political system. Defense ministers are formally nominated by the president and confirmed by parliament, but the post is among the sensitive ministries whose nominees have traditionally been coordinated with and approved by the supreme leader beforehand.

That process is less transparent under Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not made a public appearance since taking office. Decisions, appointments and written messages have continued to be issued in his name, but officials have not said whether or how his approval was obtained for Akhlaghi Ketabchi’s nomination.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202610059428