Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has appointed hardliner Mohsen Rezaei as the republic's top security official, replacing a predecessor who was removed a day after setting out conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Analysts say the reshuffle shows Khamenei consolidating power months after succeeding his father as supreme leader.
Mohsen Rezaei, who made his name as a young, hawkish commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards during the war with Iraq, has been appointed secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, making him in effect the republic's top security official, with a critical voice in determining the trajectory of its war with the US. The appointment cements his place as one of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei's top lieutenants and comes as Tehran hardens its rhetoric over a diplomatic push to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Zolghadr's exit and a fresh set of conditions
Rezaei's predecessor, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, was removed a day after he set out a string of conditions Iran wants met before it will reopen the strait, including a demand that the US permanently end the war against Iran and regional proxies, lift the naval blockade on Iranian ports and withdraw American forces from the vicinity of the republic. He also called for compensation for the war and last year's 12-day Israeli-US conflict, the lifting of sanctions and the unfreezing of Iran's assets held overseas. No reason was given for his abrupt departure; Zolghadr was instead named a political adviser to Khamenei.
A sign of Khamenei consolidating power
Analysts see the reshuffle as evidence that Mojtaba Khamenei, who became supreme leader in March, 10 days after his father Ali Khamenei was killed in the first strikes of the US-Israeli war, is tightening his grip on the regime. Ali Vaez, an Iran expert at the Crisis Group think-tank, said the move suggested Khamenei was seeking to create a counterbalance to Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the parliamentary speaker who led earlier talks with the US.
According to Vaez: "Rezaei is a member of the old guard, and a mentor to Mojtaba Khamenei." On Monday, Khamenei also formalised the positions of top military and Guards leaders who took over after their predecessors were killed in the war.
Analysts do not expect Tehran to soften its position, citing its deep distrust of President Donald Trump and the regime's belief it holds the upper hand. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who chairs the security council, argued for a deal on Saturday, but reformists who worry about the war's economic toll are seen as less influential than the country's military commanders. Rezaei himself has voiced scepticism since the April 8 ceasefire, and said last week that diplomacy should continue only if the US changes its behaviour.
On Monday, Trump responded on Truth Social that Washington would instead seek its own compensation from Iran for the people it says have been killed and gravely wounded. Mehrzad Boroujerdi, an Iranian-American academic at Missouri University of Science and Technology, said the appointment signals that Iran's hardliners, not its reformists, will set the terms of any future talks with Washington.
Source: Financial Times
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