Sardar
Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr
محمدباقر ذوالقدر
Zolghadr in 2017
Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council
Incumbent
Assumed office
24 March 2026
Appointed by Masoud Pezeshkian
Preceded by Ali Larijani
Member of Expediency Discernment Council
Incumbent
Assumed office
20 September 2022
Appointed by Ali Khamenei
Chairman Sadeq Larijani
Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council
Incumbent
Assumed office
19 September 2021
Appointed by Sadeq Larijani
Chairman Sadeq Larijani
Preceded by Mohsen Rezaee
Personal details
Born c. 1954 or 1955 (age 70–71)[1]
Fasa, Iran
Relations Kazem Gharibabadi (son-in-law)
Alma mater
University of Tehran (BEc)
Military service
Allegiance Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Years of service
1979–2010
Rank Brigadier general
Commands Joint Staff
Battles/wars Iran–Iraq War
2026 Iran War

Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr (Persian: محمدباقر ذوالقدر) is an Iranian former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) military officer who has served as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council since March 2026. He has also served as the Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council since 2021.

Before the 1979 Islamic revolution, Zolghard was active in carrying out attacks against the monarchy, and in 1978 he killed an American engineer and an oil company manager.[2] He served as the commander of the IRGC Irregular Warfare Headquarters, as well as the Ramazan Headquarters, which formed the basis for the Quds Force, the IRGC’s foreign branch that conducts terrorist activities outside of Iran. He was later a Brigadier General in the IRGC, with whom he served from 1979 to 2010. He was the Chief of the Joint Staff of the IRGC from 1989 to 1997, and Second-in-Command of the IRGC from 1997 to 2006.

After he helped Mahmoud Ahmadinejad come to power with a "multilayered plan," from 2005 to 2007 he was Deputy Interior Minister for Security Affairs and Police under Ahmadinejad.[3][4][5] From 2012 to 2021 he was the deputy for strategic, societal–security and crime prevention affairs in the judicial system of Iran.[6] In March 2026, he was appointed Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, succeeding Ali Larijani, who had been killed.[7][8]

He is known for his hard-line views, and said on 24 March 2026 that the IRGC should gain more control over the country.[5] The Economist described him as an "IRGC apparatchik".[9]

Early life and education

Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr was born in 1954 in Fasa, near Shiraz, Iran. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Tehran, prior to Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.[2]

Military career

Before the 1979 Islamic revolution, he was a member of the Mansourun guerrilla group, an Islamist militant organization active at the time. In 1978 he, along with Mohsen Rezaei, killed an American engineer and an oil company manager.[2] He is reportedly one of the founders of Ansar-e Hezbollah, a conservative paramilitary organization in Iran.[4]

During the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, he co-headed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' educational division for military training, as well as guerrilla operations.[10][11] He later served as the commander of the IRGC Irregular Warfare Headquarters, as well as the Ramazan Headquarters, which formed the basis for the Quds Force, the IRGC’s foreign branch that conducts terrorist activities outside of Iran.[2][6]

He was the Chief of the Joint Staff of the IRGC from 1989 to 1997.[2] Zolghadr served as the deputy commander of the IRGC from 1997 to 2005.[2][4] In 2007, Zolghadr was appointed the deputy chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces for Basij-related affairs.[12]

Political career

Following the Iranian Revolution, Zolghadr joined the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization and belonged to its right-wing faction,[13] having previously been a member of Mansouroun guerrilla organization along with later fellow IRGC servicemen Rezaei, Shamkhani and Rashid.[14]

After he helped Mahmoud Ahmadinejad come to power with a "multilayered plan," from 2005 to 2007 he was Deputy Interior Minister for Security Affairs and Police under Ahmadinejad.[15][4][5] In April 2007, he warned the U.S. that if it were to attack Iran, Iran would fire “tens of thousands of missiles at American targets every day."[5]

Beginning in 2021, Zolghadr led Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council of the System. The council advises Iran’s Supreme Leader.[5]

In March 2026, he was appointed Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, succeeding Ali Larijani, who had been killed.[16][17]

Judicial career

In 2010, Zolghadr began serving as an advisor to the Chief Justice Sadeq Larijani, the brother of Ali Larijani.[5] He was appointed the deputy Judiciary chief for strategic affairs on 14 May 2012.[18][19]

Personal life

Zolghadr is married to Sedigheh Begum Hejazi, who has served as Director-General of the Office of Women and Family Affairs at the Organization of Islamic Culture and Communication. His son-in-law, Kazem Gharibabadi, is an Iranian diplomat who has represented Iran in Vienna at international organizations, including the International Atomic Energy Agency.[2]

Published works

Zolghadr authored Qesse-ye Ghorbat-e Gharbi (Persian: قصه‌ی غربت غربی; English: The Tale of Western Estrangement), published in 1381 (2002–2003) in Iran by Dowrye Aliye Jang. The work, written in Persian, is a short volume (38 pages) that engages with themes related to Western society and culture, framed through a critical and ideological lens.[20]

See also

  • List of Iranian officials

References

  1. ^ "Revolutionary Guardsman Wins Top Iran Security Post", Agence France Presse, 1 December 2005, retrieved 1 March 2017 – via Arab News
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Khansari, Mohammad Sadat (2021-09-23). "Who Is Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, Iran's New Secretary of the Expediency Council?". NCRI. Archived from the original on 2026-03-24.
  3. ^ "Revolutionary Guardsman Wins Top Iran Security Post", Agence France Presse, 1 December 2005, retrieved 1 March 2017 – via Arab News
  4. ^ a b c d Frederic Wehrey; Jerrold D Green; Brian Nichiporuk; Alireza Nader; Lydia Hansell (31 December 2008). The Rise of the Pasdaran: Assessing the Domestic Roles of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Rand Corporation. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-8330-4680-2. Archived from the original on August 6, 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Torbati, Yeganeh (2026-03-24). "Iran's New Security Chief Is a Hard-Line Former Guards Commander". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  6. ^ a b Ali Alfoneh (29 March 2012). "Generational change in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force: Brigadier General Iraj Masjedi". Middle Eastern Outlook. Retrieved 11 June 2017 – via American Enterprise Institute.
  7. ^ "Iran names hardline ex-Revolutionary Guards commander to replace slain security chief". Reuters. 24 March 2026.
  8. ^ "Zolghadr appointed Iran's security chief". Mehr News Agency. 24 March 2026.
  9. ^ "The Revolutionary Guards are taking over Iran". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2026-03-26.
  10. ^ "Revolutionary Guardsman Wins Top Iran Security Post", Agence France Presse, 1 December 2005, retrieved 1 March 2017 – via Arab News
  11. ^ Saeed Aganji (24 February 2015), "IRGC to reopen its own high schools", Al-Monitor, retrieved 1 March 2017
  12. ^ "Leader Appoints Deputy Chief of General Staff of Iranian Armed Forces for Basij-Related Affairs". Khamenei.ir. 11 December 2007. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  13. ^ Muhammad Sahimi (12 May 2009). "The Political Groups". Tehran Bureau. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  14. ^ Alfoneh, Ali (2013), Iran Unveiled: How the Revolutionary Guards Is Transforming Iran from Theocracy into Military Dictatorship, AEI Press, pp. 8–10
  15. ^ "Revolutionary Guardsman Wins Top Iran Security Post", Agence France Presse, 1 December 2005, retrieved 1 March 2017 – via Arab News
  16. ^ "Iran names hardline ex-Revolutionary Guards commander to replace slain security chief". Reuters. 24 March 2026.
  17. ^ "Zolghadr appointed Iran's security chief". Mehr News Agency. 24 March 2026.
  18. ^ "Iranian judiciary chief appoints new Judicial officials", Mehr News Agency, 14 May 2012, retrieved 1 March 2017 – via OANA
  19. ^ Massoumeh Torfeh (8 January 2010), "Iran's judiciary takes a military colour", Guardian, retrieved 1 March 2017
  20. ^ ذوالقدر، محمدباقر. "قصه‌ی غربت غربی". Ketab.com (in Persian). دورهٔ عالی جنگ. ISBN 964-5935-52-0. Retrieved 24 March 2026.

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