A missile industry veteran has been chosen as Iran’s new defense minister, replacing the previous minister who was assassinated on February 28, the first day of the US and Israeli strikes on Iran. Iranian parliamentarians overwhelmingly approved the appointment of Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi, 68, as the country’s new defense chief on Sunday. Akhlaghi studied chemical engineering at Amirkabir University of Technology and then spent more than four decades working in Iran’s military industries, holding senior positions at the Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group, the Aerospace Industries Organization (which has worked on missile development in cooperation with Russia, China and North Korea) and the Defense Industries Organization. He worked with Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, a top commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps widely considered the father of Iran’s missile industry. Akhlaghi has been under international sanctions since 2007 due to his involvement in Iran’s missile programs. His appointment comes as Iran works to rebuild its military facilities and replenish weapons lost during the war. He has promised to strengthen domestic arms production, and his record suggests that rebuilding Iran’s missile programs will be a priority for the ministry. Iranian military spokesman Mohammad Akraminia has repeatedly claimed since late August that Iran has rebuilt its weapons manufacturing capacity, including last week when he said the country was now capable of making more weapons than “even before.” [the war] It began.” Early in the war, the U.S. military said it had destroyed more than 85% of Iran’s “defense industrial base,” and President Trump had previously claimed that Iran’s military capabilities were destroyed by U.S. strikes, but experts have disputed that assessment, and Iran has demonstrated a continued ability to launch attacks on ships in the region.
