Iran gets a new defence minister – missile expert Mehrdad Akhlaghi
Parliament confirms 68-year-old Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi by 237 votes to 15. He is tasked with rebuilding the arms industry – and has a warning for Trump.
Symbolic image · Photo: Mahdifa33 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Iran's parliament on Sunday approved Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi as defence minister by 237 votes to 15. His predecessor Aziz Nasirzadeh was killed on the opening day of the war along with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Interim minister Majid Ebn-e Reza will become Akhlaghi's deputy.
According to state media, the 68-year-old is an expert in ballistic missiles, solid-fuel propulsion and aerospace technology, and once headed the Aerospace Industries Organization. He is under US and UN sanctions. His task is to rebuild military-industrial infrastructure heavily targeted by US and Israeli strikes; a ministry spokesman said 'offensive arms are being actively improved'.
Responding to the Trump administration's threat to use the 'mother of all bombs' on Iran's nuclear and energy sites, Akhlaghi said: 'The US president must think of getting his forces out of our region in one piece.' President Masoud Pezeshkian stressed that Iran 'will not be the instigator of aggression against any country'.