Mohammad Reza Naqdi

service_years= 1981–present rank= Brigadier General commands= Basij unit= plainlist| Quds Force

The Majalla claims that Naqdi is an Iraqi national of Iranian origin and the son of a Shiite cleric named Ali Akbar Thamahniy Shams, who was expelled from Iraq in 1980 among convoys of Moaveds and was placed in the city of Naqadeh with his family. He was allegedly affiliated with the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq.

Earlier in his career Naqdi served as the Iranian Police Force's Counter-Intelligence Chief and is also reported to have been involved in "crackdowns" during the 1997-2005 administration of Khatami including the 1999 student protests. He was found not guilty.

Naqdi was appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as commander of the Basij in October 2009, replacing Hossein Taeb. He has been described as possessing "conservative credentials" and his appointment was said (by Mohsen Sazegara) to have "shattered the hopes and plans of those who thought they could ease" the unrest and protest following the reelection of President Ahmadinejad.

2009 protests On 14 February 2011 Naqdi was quoted by the semi-official Fars news agency as saying he believed the February protests in Iran had been started by "western spies" and that "western intelligence agencies are searching for a mentally challenged person who can set himself on fire in Tehran to trigger developments like those in Egypt and Tunisia." Naqdi was also quoted as saying the basij were "ready to sacrifice their lives" to defend the Islamic regime, and likened the opposition to the "party of Satan."

Two weeks later on 23 February 2011, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on General Naqdi, "for being responsible for or complicit in serious human rights abuses in Iran", adding him to the Office of Foreign Assets Control blacklist. The action subjects him "to visa sanctions" and "seeks to block any assets" he may have under U.S. jurisdiction, and "bans U.S. citizens from financial transactions with them".

Views

Israel In 2011 Naqdi called on Israeli citizens to leave the region voluntarily. He said, "We recommend them to pack their furniture and return to their countries," adding that if they remained, "a time will arrive when they will not even have time to pack their suitcases."

During a 2015 speech Naqdi threatened Israel and declared that an Israeli attack on Hizbullah forces which led to killing of an Iranian revolutionary guard official in Syria will be responded to by liberating of Palestine.

COVID-19 After the Supreme leader of Iran ayatollah Ali Khamenei banned the import of British and US vaccines against COVID-19 in January 2021, General Naqdi commented that the ayatollah "does not recommend the injection of any foreign vaccine", because the genetic material (mRNA) it contains instructs cells to produce proteins.