Pezeshkian nominates Mehrdad Akhlaghi as Iran’s new defence minister

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has nominated Mehrdad Akhlaghi as the new defence minister, the semi-official Tasnim agency announced, as cited by Al Jazeera.

Akhlaghi previously served as chief of operations of Iran’s Aerospace Industries Organization and most recently as a senior executive at the Defence Ministry — experience that links him directly to the country’s missile and space programme.

The Defence Ministry had been led on an interim basis by several military leaders since the killing of Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh at the start of the U.S.–Israel war in February, so the nomination marks the first attempt to stabilise the ministry’s leadership in wartime.

The nomination must be approved by the Iranian parliament. It comes at a time when Tehran is trying to reopen diplomatic channels over the Strait of Hormuz, while fighting in the region continues.