Hossein Dehghani Poudeh
(
Persian
:
???? ?????? ????
; born 2 March 1957), commonly known as
Hossein Dehghan
, is an Iranian military officer and former
IRGC Air Force
officer with the rank of
brigadier general
. He is currently head of the
Mostazafan Foundation
since 2023.
He was former
minister of defense
of Iran that designated for the position by President
Hassan Rouhani
on 4 August 2013 and confirmed by the parliament on 15 August.
[1]
He left the office on 20 August 2017.
Early life and education
[
edit
]
Dehghani was born in a village near
Shahreza
, called
Pudeh
,
Dehaqan County
,
Isfahan province
, in 1957.
[1]
[2]
[3]
He received a PhD in management from
the University of Tehran
.
[4]
[5]
Career and activities
[
edit
]
Dehghani served as a commander in
the Iranian Revolution Guards Corps
(IRGC) and in its
air force
.
[6]
[7]
He left his hometown for
Tehran
and joined the IRGC shortly after
the Iranian revolution
in 1979.
[2]
His posts at the IRGC include commander of IRGC of Tehran (1980-1982),
Isfahan
, and
Syria
and
Lebanon
(1982-1983),
[2]
and general manager of the IRGC's Cooperatives Foundation (1996).
[8]
[9]
During
the Iran-Iraq war
, he was among the leading and decision-making commanders of the IRGC along with
Mohsen Rezaee
,
Rahim Safavi
and
Ali Shamkhani
.
[10]
In Syria and Lebanon he was the commander of the training corps of the IRGC.
[2]
He was named the IRGC's air force deputy commander in 1986 and became its commander in April 1990.
[11]
His tenure lasted until 1992. He was replaced by
Mohammad Hossein Jalali
in the post.
[11]
Dehghani was named deputy chief of the IRGC Joint Staff in 1992.
[8]
He later was promoted to the rank of brigadier general.
[8]
Next he served as deputy to the then defense minister, Ali Shamkhani, during the presidency of
Mohammad Khatami
from 1997 to 2003.
[8]
[12]
[13]
In 2003, he held the post of acting defense minister.
[14]
He was made
Vice President of Iran
and head of the martyrs foundation, "
Bonyad Shahid
", in 2005 and served as its president until July 2009.
[15]
[8]
[9]
[16]
In addition, he served as an advisor to the former President
Mahmoud Ahmedinejad
.
[9]
[17]
From 2009 to 2010 he was the deputy to Ali Shamkhani in the Armed Forces Strategic Studies Center.
[8]
Then he was appointed secretary of
the Expediency Council
's political, defense and security committee in 2010.
[6]
He also served as an advisor to Speaker of Parliament
Ali Larijani
and Tehran Mayor
Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf
.
[8]
However, Dehghani distanced himself from Ahmedinejad in 2012 and joined
Moderation and Development Party
led by Hassan Rouhani.
[8]
He was nominated to head the defense ministry on 4 August 2013.
[18]
He was approved by
the Majlis
and replaced
Ahmad Vahidi
in the post. Dehghani received 269 votes in favor and 10 votes against.
[19]
Former Oil Minister
Rostam Qasemi
was named as Dehghani's advisor on 22 August.
[20]
On 1 August 2017, Dehghani announced that he would leave the defense ministry after the end of the
first Rouhani government
. He currently serves as an advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei
.
[21]
He has announced that he will be running in the
2021 Iranian presidential election
.
[22]
Sanctions
[
edit
]
In November 2019, Dehghan was among many Iranian officials placed under the
sanctions list
by the
United States Department of State
due to his involvement as an IRGC commander in the
1983 Beirut barracks bombings
which alleged
Hezbollah
militants killed 241 American soldiers.
[23]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Biography of Hossein Dehghani
Archived
26 December 2013 at the
Wayback Machine
, Iranian government official website
- ^
a
b
c
d
Shapira, Shimon (11 August 2013).
"Iran's New Defense Minister: Behind the 1983 Attack on the U.S. Marine Corps Barracks in Beirut"
.
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
. Retrieved
13 August
2013
.
- ^
"Who is Hossein Dehghani, Hassan Rouhani's choice for defense minister"
.
NCRI
. 13 August 2013
. Retrieved
13 August
2013
.
- ^
"President Hassan Rouhani's pragmatic conservative, security-intelligence-oriented Cabinet nominations"
.
Iran Politik
. 6 August 2013. Archived from
the original
on 21 October 2018
. Retrieved
13 August
2013
.
- ^
"Key figures in Iran's new government"
.
Bloomberg
. 15 August 2013. Archived from
the original
on 15 August 2013
. Retrieved
15 August
2013
.
- ^
a
b
"Former IRGCAF commander: I'm Rouhani's choice for DM"
.
Iran Daily Brief
. 1 August 2013. Archived from
the original
on 18 August 2013
. Retrieved
5 August
2013
.
- ^
Karimi, Nasser (4 August 2013).
"Hasan Rouhani, Iran's new president, calls for 'lessening of hostilities'
"
.
MSNBC
. Tehran. AP
. Retrieved
5 August
2013
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Will Fulton (7 August 2013).
"Rouhani's Cautious Pick For Defense Minister"
.
Al Monitor
. Retrieved
11 August
2013
.
- ^
a
b
c
Frederic Wehrey; Jerrold D Green; Brian Nichiporuk; Alireza Nader; Lydia Hansell (31 December 2008).
The Rise of the Pasdaran: Assessing the Domestic Roles of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps
(PDF)
. Rand Corporation. p. 59.
ISBN
978-0-8330-4680-2
.
Archived
from the original on 6 August 2013
. Retrieved
5 August
2013
.
- ^
"The Islamic Republic's 13 generals"
.
Iran Briefing
. 3 February 2011
. Retrieved
13 August
2013
.
- ^
a
b
Cordesman, Anthony H. (September 1994).
"Iran's Military Forces: 1988-1993"
(PDF)
. Center for Strategic and International Studies. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 20 October 2013
. Retrieved
17 February
2013
.
- ^
"Russian Deputy Defense Minister arrives in Iran"
.
Albawaba
. 24 June 2002
. Retrieved
5 August
2013
.
- ^
"Rouhani's proposed cabinet line-up"
.
Iran Daily
. 6 August 2013
. Retrieved
16 August
2013
.
- ^
"Iran Military to Upgrade Its Shahab-3 Missiles"
.
Arab News
. Tehran. Reuters. 16 December 2003. Archived from
the original
on 5 August 2013
. Retrieved
5 August
2013
.
- ^
Biography of Hossein Dehghan
Hamshahri
- ^
Appointment of Hossein Dehghan as Vice President of Iran by Mohammad Khatami
Hamshahri
- ^
Frederic Wehrey; Jerrold D. Green; Brian Nichiporuk; Alireza Nader; Lydia Hansell; Rasool Nafisi; S. R. Bohandy (2009).
"The Rise of the Pasdaran"
(PDF)
.
RAND Corporation
. Retrieved
20 August
2013
.
- ^
Soraya Lennie (4 August 2013).
"Iran's revival of the moderates"
.
Al Jazeera
. Retrieved
5 August
2013
.
- ^
"Iranian Parliament Gives Vote of Confidence to Majority of Rouhani's Proposed Ministers"
.
Fars News
. 15 August 2013
. Retrieved
15 August
2013
.
- ^
"Ex-Iranian Oil Minister Qasemi appointed advisor to Defense Minister"
.
ILNA
. 22 August 2013. Archived from
the original
on 16 October 2013
. Retrieved
13 September
2013
.
- ^
Dehghanpisheh, Babak (5 February 2018). Hepinstall, Sonya (ed.).
"Islamic State threatens Iran from "Tora Bora" borderlands"
.
Reuters
.
Hossein Dehghan, a former defence minister and now an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in a recent interview with the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
- ^
"Hossein Dehghan and other military vets vie for Iran's presidency"
. 7 October 2020.
- ^
"Treasury Designates Supreme Leader of Iran's Inner Circle Responsible for Advancing Regime's Domestic and Foreign Oppression"
.
External links
[
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]