According to Donya-e Eqtesad, Iran's post-revolution "Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Support" was called the "Ministry of National Defense" from the 1979 Revolution until June 1984, and briefly "Ministry of Defense" from 1984-1989. The current structure was created in 1989 when the Defense Ministry merged with the Revolutionary Guards Ministry. According to the report, from its establishment until today, a total of 15 military-background figures have headed this ministry across 14 governments; among them, Mustafa Chamran, Major General Javad Fekuri, Major General Musa Namju, and Amir Aziz Nasirzade were martyred while serving as minister.
According to the report, the youngest defense minister was Mohammad Foruzande, appointed to replace Akbar Torkan in Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani's second government; Foruzande was 33 when appointed. Torkan is also on the list of young ministers, and was 37 when he took office. New Defense Minister Mehrdad Ahlaki Ketabchi's exact birth date is uncertain; some sources list his birth year as 1332-1333 (1953-1954), but by that calculation, he became, at 73 when appointed, the oldest defense minister to date. Before him, the distinction belonged to Mohammad Taqi Riahi, who served in Mohammad Bazargan's interim government from Farvardin to Shahrivar 1358 (April-September 1979); Riahi was 69 when appointed.
According to Gulf News and The Week reports, Ahlaki is a figure on U.S. and EU sanctions lists since 2007, who worked for years in senior positions in Iran's missile and aviation industry; he was head of the Shahid Bakeri Industrial Group and played a role in Iran's ballistic missile program development. Parliament approved his appointment on October 18 by a vote of 237 in favor and 15 against; the position had remained vacant for months following the death of his predecessor, Aziz Nasirzade, in U.S.-Israeli attacks. According to The Week, Ahlaki directly targeted the U.S. in Parliament's confirmation hearing, saying "The U.S. president should focus on ensuring the safe withdrawal of his forces from our region," and stated that the response from Iranian people and "Islamic fighters" would be "surprising and comprehensive" if the U.S. made a new strategic miscalculation.
Context
The defense ministry position resulting in martyrdom four times demonstrates the symbolic and security risk this office carries in Iranian politics; most of the names come from the Revolutionary Guards or the regular army command echelon. Ahlaki's appointment as the oldest figure reflects both the perceived need for his decades of missile industry experience and the selection of a cautious, experienced figure under war conditions; by contrast, the relative youth of Riahi in the post-revolution interim government period and later of Foruzande point to different political periods placing different priorities on the institution. This historical comparison provides a reference point for understanding the continuity of Iran's defense bureaucracy and shifts in its security cadre in today's wartime Iran. Ahlaki's use of the term "fourth war" in his confirmation hearing also marks the first time a defense minister has taken office with such openly explicit war preparation rhetoric; his predecessor Nasirzade's death was likewise a direct consequence of the same war.
