Former Missile Industry Chief Elevated to Iran's Defence Ministry

Iran’s parliament has voted overwhelmingly to install Mehradad Akhlakhi Ketabchi as the country’s defence minister. The vote tally stood at 237 in favour, 15 against, with every member participating. Ketabchi, a veteran of Iran’s missile and aerospace sectors, previously led the Aerospace Industries Organization and later the Defence Industries Organization, overseeing the nation’s strategic weapons programmes. He succeeds Brigadier General Aziz Nasirjadeh, who was killed in a U.S.-Israeli air raid that struck Iranian forces at the outset of the February confrontation. The president’s interim appointment of Brigadier General Majid ibn al‑Reza kept the ministry operational until the parliamentary decision. Despite his extensive background, Ketabchi remains subject to sanctions imposed by the United States and the United Nations, citing his former role with the Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group, a firm credited with developing solid‑propellant ballistic missiles.