Zolghadr Appointed Iran's Security Chief
Last update: March 24, 2026
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Iran names ex-Guards commander to succeed Larijani as security chief
Iran named on Tuesday a former Revolutionary Guards commander as successor to Ali Larijani who was head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council after his killing in an Israeli strike.
Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, whose appointment was confirmed by state TV, is a former deputy commander-in-chief of Iran's ideological army.
He has also held senior posts in the interior and justice ministries.
Larijani was killed last week in an Israeli strike.
Zolghadr's career has been embedded in the Revolutionary Guards, whose stated aim is to protect the Islamic revolution from internal and external threats.
Who is Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr?
After serving in the 1980s war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq, Zolghadr was the head of the Guards joint staff for eight years, and then as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Guards for another eight years.
In 2005, he was appointed deputy interior minister for security and police in the government of then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Since 2023, he has been the secretary of the Expediency Council, a powerful body which plays both an advisory and mediating role between Iran's various power structures and the supreme leader.
His new post should give Zolghadr a major role in the Iranian war effort against the United States and Israeli strikes after the killing of over a dozen key Iranian security figures in the war.
