TEHRAN – President Ebrahim Raisi on Monday appointed Ali-Akbar Ahmadian as the new secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
He is replacing Ali Shamkhani, whom the president lauded for his 10 years of service as the country’s top security chief.
In a decree later Monday, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei appointed Ahmadian as his representative in the Supreme National Security Council. The Leader also thanked Shamkhani and appointed him as a member of the Expediency Council and his political advisor.
Ahmadian, 62, is a graduate of the University of Tehran in dentistry and has a PhD in strategic management from the Supreme National Defense University of Iran.
He began his military career as the commander of the IRGC Navy in August 1997. He was the deputy commander of the IRGC Navy for eight years, before serving as the chief of that force for three years.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who is the commander in chief of Iran’s Armed Forces, then appointed Ahmadian as the chief of Staff of the IRGC. During his seven-year stint in that post, he greatly contributed to development of the IRGC’s administrative structure and promotion of its capabilities in various fields.
He has held other key positions, such as the head of Imam Hussein University and the head of the IRGC Strategic Studies Center.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Ahmadian in 2007 as a key person linked to the IRGC. The European Union also imposed sanctions on him in that year.
Known as one of the founders of the IRGC Navy, the official has played a pivotal role in forming a modern naval force for the IRGC. During his tenure, he implemented some major changes in the IRGC.
He was one of the five figures who were appointed by the Leader last September to join Iran’s Expediency Council.