Hossein Dehghan

Hossein Dehghani Poudeh (; born 3 March 1957)

He was former minister of defense of Iran that was designated for the position by President Hassan Rouhani on 4 August 2013 and confirmed by the parliament on 15 August. He received a PhD in management from the University of Tehran.

Career and activities Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps Dehghan served as a commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and in its air force. During the Islamic revolution, Dehghan took part in the occupation of the US embassy in Tehran. He left his hometown for Tehran and joined the IRGC shortly after the Iranian revolution in 1979. As commander of the IRGC in Tehran he took part and oversaw the suppression and execution of opponents to the newly formed Islamic Republic. In Syria and Lebanon he was the commander of the training corps of the IRGC. His tenure lasted until 1992. He was replaced by Mohammad Hossein Jalali in the post. In 2003, he held the post of acting defense minister. 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. In addition, he served as an advisor to the former President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad. From 2009 to 2010 he was the deputy to Ali Shamkhani in the Armed Forces Strategic Studies Center.

He was nominated to head the defense ministry on 4 August 2013. He was approved by the Majlis and replaced Ahmad Vahidi in the post. Dehghani received 269 votes in favor and 10 votes against. Former Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi was named as Dehghani's advisor on 22 August.

He was a known hardliner and close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In 2016, Dehghan advanced and signed a counterterrorism agreement with China. That same year, he negotiated an arms deal with Russia and refused to respond when parliament questioned about details on Iran's military cooperation as Russia conducted fly missions over Syria from Iran. Later, he announced to cut military cooperation with Russia.

On 1 August 2017, Dehghan announced that he would leave the defense ministry after the end of the first Rouhani government. He served as an advisor to Ali Khamenei. After the assassination of Qasem Soleimani and before Operation Martyr Soleimani, Ali Khamenei, along with Dehghan as his chief military advisor, had made preparations to strike US forces back as revenge.

He announced that he was running in the 2021 Iranian presidential election. Many critics opposed his candidacy, warning that it would lead to increasing military interventions within Iran's political structure. On 19 March 2026 Iran International reported that he became the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Iran International corrected it later.

Mostazafan Foundation Under the leadership of Dehghan, the foundation faced criticism and accusations over the sale of the Parsian Hotels Group, a key asset of the foundation. Ali Khazrian, a member of Parliament, raised concerns about the buyer's qualifications and the unusually low sale price, calling for a thorough investigation into the deal. The foundation has been under U.S. sanctions since 2020, Partially due to its use of economic influence to support the regime's agenda.

Sanctions 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.

Political views In 2020, Dehghan stated he is not part of any specific political faction stating: "I neither one of Ahmadinejad’s men nor…Khatami's."

Before announcing his candidacy for the 2021 Iranian presidential election, Dehghan worked to increase his presence in Iranian politics by connecting with key conservative religious leaders including Ahmad Alamolhoda, who opposed Hassan Rouhani’s foreign policy towards Washington. He also dismissed Europe's role as a mediator between Iran and the US stating that it had "no independent stance from America". In 2017, he dismissed the United Nations' concern of Iran violating the Iran nuclear deal during a missile test and said that Iran would "not allow foreigners to interfere in our defence affairs".