Iran has appointed missile industry veteran Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi as its new defence minister, replacing the previous office-holder who was killed on February 28, the first day of US and Israeli strikes on the country.
Iranian parliamentarians overwhelmingly approved the 68-year-old’s appointment on Sunday as Tehran works to rebuild military facilities and replenish weapons lost during the war.
Akhlaghi studied chemical engineering at Amirkabir University of Technology before spending more than four decades in Iran’s military industries. He held senior roles at the Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group, the Aerospace Industries Organisation and the Defence Industries Organisation.
The Aerospace Industries Organisation has worked on missile development with Russia, China and North Korea. Akhlaghi also worked with Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander widely regarded as the father of Iran’s missile industry.
Akhlaghi has been under international sanctions since 2007 because of his involvement in Iran’s missile programmes. He has pledged to strengthen domestic arms production, with his background pointing to the rebuilding of Iran’s missile capabilities as a priority for the ministry.
Iranian army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia has repeatedly claimed since late August that the country has restored its weapons manufacturing capacity. Last week, he said Iran was capable of producing more arms than it could before the war began.
The US military said early in the conflict that it had destroyed more than 85% of Iran’s defence industrial base. President Donald Trump had also claimed that US strikes had destroyed Iran’s military capabilities, but experts have questioned that assessment.
Iran has continued to demonstrate an ability to launch attacks on ships in the region, according to the material available.
