DUBAI — Iran appointed former Revolutionary Guards commander Mohsen Rezaei as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council on Aug. 10, elevating a high-profile hardliner to a key role that coordinates the country’s security and foreign policy, officials said.
Rezaei, 71, replaces Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, who had been named to the post in late March following the death of Ali Larijani in an air strike during the ongoing war involving Iran, the U.S. and Israel. The change was announced by the deputy director of communications to President Masoud Pezeshkian; authorities gave no reason for the switch and did not indicate whether it signals any shift in policy.
A veteran of Iran’s military and political elite, Rezaei led the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps from 1981 to 1997, including through much of the Iran‑Iraq war, later serving long stints as secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council and as vice president for economic affairs under former hardline President Ebrahim Raisi. The supreme leader’s decree also named Rezaei as the leader’s representative on the SNSC, citing his “valuable experiences,” and alongside fellow hardliner Saeed Jalili.
Zolqadr, who will become a political adviser to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei under the same decree, had outlined a series of conditions tied to reopening strategic Gulf waterways, including demands that the U.S. end threats and compensate Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Saturday that Tehran and Oman were close to agreeing a new shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz, but that reopening the passage would depend on broader conditions including U.S. concessions.
The SNSC, formally chaired by the elected president, brings together top military, intelligence and government officials with representatives of the supreme leader, who retains final authority over state matters. Observers say Rezaei’s outspoken profile and long-standing ties to Iran’s security establishment could shape the council’s posture at a critical moment in regional tensions.