Who Is Ahmad Vahidi? New Chief Of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps

Iran has named Ahmad Vahidi, a former defence and interior minister, as the new commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), state media reported on March 1. The announcement comes after the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior military officials, including Mohammad Pakpour, the previous IRGC chief, in the latest US and Israeli attacks. 

Who Is Ahmad Vahidi? 

Vahidi is internationally recognised as a suspect in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural centre in Buenos Aires, according to a report in The New York Times. A suicide bomber drove a truck carrying 275 kilos of explosives into the building, killing 85 people and injuring around 300. Argentine prosecutors previously issued arrest warrants for five Iranian officials, including Vahidi, accusing them of “conceiving, planning, financing, and executing” the attack. 

Interpol issued a Red Notice in 2007 to alert the global law enforcement community that a national arrest warrant was outstanding. 

Born in 1958 in the central Iranian city of Shiraz, Vahidi studied electronic engineering at Shiraz University during the 1979 Iranian revolution. Around that time, he joined both the IRGC and the revolutionary committees, according to Iranian media. He later earned a PhD in strategic studies, according to the NYT. 

During the eight-year Iran-Iraq war that began in 1980, Vahidi held several senior security positions. From 1988 to 1998, he led the IRGC's Quds Force, which specialises in intelligence and overseas operations beyond Iran's borders. 

Vahidi's political career includes serving as deputy defence minister from 2005, becoming defence minister in 2009 and holding the post until 2013. He also spent three years as Iran's interior minister. 

The United States, the European Union, Canada and Britain have imposed sanctions on General Vahidi for human rights violations. 

IRGC Targets US, Israeli Bases 

Following the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the IRGC has vowed revenge. It said that it has launched attacks on 27 bases hosting US troops across the Middle East, as well as on Israeli military facilities in Tel Aviv, reported Al Jazeera. 

US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has warned Tehran it would face “a force that has ⁠never been seen before” if it retaliates “very hard today.” 

Iran's government announced that an interim council, including President Masoud Pezeshkian, will manage the country until a new supreme leader is selected. Iranian state media reports that at least 201 people have been killed in the attacks across 24 provinces. 

According to Al Jazeera, the retaliatory strikes have reportedly targeted US and Israeli assets in several Middle Eastern countries, including Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Oman.