He is the mastermind behind Iran's hardline

TT

Published 06.50

           

           

          The leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Ahmad Vahidi, is considered the mastermind                      behind the country's hardline negotiating line. Here he was captured in a photo in 2024, but he                    usually stays out of the public eye.

          1 / 2Photo: Vahid Salemi/AP/TT

Keep the Strait of Hormuz closed, attack neighboring countries around the Persian Gulf and resist American demands to give up uranium enrichment.

After almost three months of war, Iran's negotiating line remains rock-solid, and according to experts, is signed by Ahmad Vahidi, the head of the powerful Revolutionary Guard.

He has not been seen in public for more than three months, and is believed to be one of the few who has direct contact with the country's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei. General Ahmad Vahidi has long been a central figure in the Iranian government and military, and has served as both defense and interior minister in the hardline Iranian regime. In March of this year, he took over the role of leader of the Revolutionary Guard, after his predecessor was killed in an American attack at the beginning of the war.

“Main obstacle to peace”

When Vahidi took over, Iran adopted an – if possible – even harder line in its indirect contacts with US President Donald Trump, writes The New York Post. The newspaper, which is usually seen as relatively Trump-friendly, calls the general “Trump’s main obstacle to peace”.

According to the Washington-based think tank ISW, Ahmad Vahidi and his closest men not only control Iran’s military operations but also the country’s negotiating policy. A source with insight into the mediation tells the AP news agency that Vahidi’s negotiating role has become even more important after rounds of talks in Pakistan in April between the parties failed to yield anything.

“Endless Resistance”

Iran’s strategy of keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed and thus choking the world market’s access to fossil fuels from the Persian Gulf has contributed to the global energy crisis that was feared even at the beginning of the war. In addition, Iranian attacks on oil facilities, hotels and infrastructure in neighboring Arab countries have fueled instability throughout the region.

“He comes from a mindset of endless revolution, endless resistance,” Kenneth Katzman, an Iran expert at the Soufan think tank, told the AP, adding that Vahidi believes the United States must always be confronted.

Since 2007, Vahidi has been wanted by Interpol, accused of playing a key role in the terrorist bombing of a Jewish center in Argentina in 1994, where 85 people lost their lives and hundreds were injured.