A missile industry veteran has been tapped as Iran’s new defense minister, replacing the previous minister who was killed on Feb. 28, the first day of U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.
Iranian parliamentarians overwhelmingly approved the appointment of Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi, 68, as the country’s new defense chief on Sunday.
Akhlaghi studied chemical engineering at Amirkabir University of Technology and then spent more than four decades working in Iran’s military industries, holding senior positions in the Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group, the Aerospace Industries Organization – which has worked on missile development in cooperation with Russia, China and North Korea – and the Defense Industries Organization.
He worked with Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander widely regarded as the father of Iran’s missile industry.
Akhlaghi has been under international sanctions since 2007 because of his involvement in Iran’s missile programs.
His appointment comes as Iran works to rebuild its military facilities and replenish weapons lost during the war. He has pledged to strengthen domestic arms production, and his background suggests rebuilding Iran’s missile programs will be a priority for the ministry.
Iranian army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia has claimed repeatedly since late August that Iran has rebuilt its weapons manufacturing capacity, including last week, when it said the country was now able to make more arms than “even before it [the war] began.”
Early in the war, the U.S. military said it had destroyed more than 85% of Iran’s “defense industrial base,” and President Trump had previously claimed Iran’s military capabilities were destroyed by U.S. strikes, but experts have questioned that assessment, and Iran has demonstrated an ongoing capacity to launch attacks on ships in the region.