Mohsen Rezaei, a former commander of Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has been appointed as the new secretary of the country's Supreme National Security Council, DPA reports.
Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded his assassinated father as Iran's leader earlier this year, announced the appointment in X, with several media outlets also reporting the move.
Major General Mohsen Rezaei is considered one of the longest-serving figures in the Iranian power structure, having participated in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Rezaei replaces the council's previous secretary, the relatively unknown Brigadier General Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr. Observers believe this could be a sign of the Islamic Guards Corps’ further strengthening of its influence over the government.
Since the outbreak of war on February 28, many key figures in the Iranian leadership have been killed in US and Israeli airstrikes.
The National Security Council is considered the key governing body in the Islamic Republic, dealing with national security matters.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has appointed Mohsen Rezaei as secretary of the country’s influential Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), shortly after he was named Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s representative on the same body. The move marks the latest reshuffle of power within Iran's ruling structures.
Pezeshkian's office said that former National Security Council Secretary Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr had resigned from his post and been given a new responsibility. Meanwhile, reports emerged that Zolghadr had taken the post of political advisor to Khamenei.