Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has nominated Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi, a senior official linked to the country’s missile industry, for the position of defense minister, an official said Monday. Pezeshkian “in a letter, introduced Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi to Parliament to take up the post of defense minister and armed forces logistics,” Sasan Valizadeh, a presidential advisor, said, as cited by semi-official Mehr News Agency. The nomination was sent to Parliament, requiring a confidence vote after lawmakers review Akhlaghi Ketabchi’s program. In Iran, parliamentary approval of nominees for sensitive security positions is generally regarded as a formality, as the nomination and public announcement of a candidate typically indicate that he or she has already secured the Supreme Leader’s approval. However, Iranian media outlets say the nomination of Akhlaghi Ketabchi has raised questions about how the appointment received approval at the highest levels of Iran’s political establishment, given the Supreme Leader’s continued absence from public view. The nomination came to fill a post vacant since Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh was killed in US-Israeli strikes in February. The ministry has been run by acting minister Majid Ebn-e-Reza since March 2. A former deputy defense minister, Ebn-e-Reza has represented Iran domestically and abroad but was not put forward for the permanent role. A Longtime Defense Official Akhlaghi Ketabchi is a longtime Defense Ministry official with deep ties to Iran’s missile and aerospace sectors. The UN Security Council listed him in 2007 as head of the Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group, linked to Iran’s ballistic missile program; his name reappeared on UN sanctions lists when earlier measures were re-imposed in September 2025. In 2014 he was appointed head of the Aerospace Industries Organization. He was also sanctioned by the US in 2020 over his alleged links to Iran’s arms-related activities, while the UK sanctioned him in 2023 over his alleged involvement in Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile activities.
