M Shaheen Iqbal

Early life and education

Iqbal was born in Comilla, then in East Pakistan (now in Chittagong Division, Bangladesh), to a Bengali Muslim military family. He finished his secondary and high school education at BAF Shaheen College Dhaka. Iqbal was enlisted at the Bangladesh Naval Academy in 1980 and was commissioned in the executive branch as a torpedo anti-submarine coordinating (TAS) officer in 1982. He is a graduate of the Defence Services Command and Staff College, Armed Forces War College, and the National Defence College. Iqbal also attended the operational planning domain course from the Naval War College at Newport, United States.

Military career Iqbal commanded three warships: one offshore missile vessel, one large patrol craft, and one minesweeper vessel. He was also commander of two naval areas and one naval base, and furthermore, the director of the School of Maritime Warfare and Tactics, National Security Intelligence, and the SWADS. At naval headquarters, Iqbal was in charge of naval intelligence, naval operations and was the assistant chief of naval staff for personnel and then operations. He was promoted to vice admiral in July 2020 and appointed the chief of naval staff. He was promoted to admiral in September of the same year. Iqbal went into retirement on 24 July 2023 and was succeeded by Admiral Mohammad Nazmul Hassan.