Iran has promoted Ahmad Vahidi to lead its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a move that security experts say represents a troubling shift toward more aggressive military policies in Tehran.
Security analysts warn that Vahidi’s promotion concentrates substantial power in the hands of someone with a long history in Iran’s overseas military operations and intelligence activities. Before Qassem Soleimani took over, Vahidi led the Quds Force between 1988 and 1998, where experts say he played a key role in establishing Iran’s network of proxy organizations throughout the Middle East, especially in Lebanon.
The promotion occurs as Iran’s power structure appears to be shifting away from civilian leadership toward informal networks connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Behnam Ben Taleblu from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies explained to Fox News that the Iranian system functions as “a system of men, not laws, but one whose success rested on institutionalizing their power,” with key decisions flowing through military-connected officials.
Iran expert Beni Sabti from Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies told Fox News that Vahidi now holds a central role in strategic planning. “In my view, he is more dominant right now, even if they are coordinated. This is not a time for internal competition,” Sabti said.
Western intelligence agencies and analysts have connected Vahidi to numerous major terrorist attacks, including the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing that claimed 241 American military lives, the 1996 Khobar Towers assault in Saudi Arabia, and a 2008 strike on the US Embassy in Yemen. Authorities in Argentina have also implicated him in the 1994 AMIA Jewish community center bombing in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people, as well as the 1992 Israeli Embassy bombing in the same city.
Middle East policy journalist Lisa Daftari told the news agency, “By any standard, Vahidi is considered a radical even within the regime’s hardline elite, and his rise is a warning that Tehran’s war machine now calls the shots.”
Yigal Carmon, who founded and leads the Middle East Media Research Institute, told Fox News, “Trusting him is a grave mistake. He belongs to the hard ‘DEATH TO AMERICA’ corps.”
Vahidi continues to face sanctions from both the United States and European Union related to Iran’s nuclear and missile development programs as well as alleged violations of human rights.
