Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr named successor to Ali Larijani as head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).

Key facts

• Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander, was appointed to succeed Ali Larijani as head of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).
• The appointment was announced on Tuesday by President Masoud Pezeshkian’s deputy of communications via X.
• Ali Larijani was killed in a US-Israeli air strike earlier this month.
• Zolghadr served as head of the IRGC’s joint staff for eight years and as deputy commander-in-chief of the IRGC for another eight years.
• In 2005, he was named deputy interior minister for security and police under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
• Since 2023, Zolghadr has been secretary of the Expediency Council.