Rezaei, 71, Iran hardliner who threatened to capture 'at least 1,000 US hostages', gets top post

When Iran named Mohsen Rezaei, 71, the move carried an important "message" to the White House and the world.

The long-time IRGC commander previously threatened to capture "at least 1,000 Americans as prisoners”.

Razaei, 71, a four-decade veteran of Iran’s ruling establishment, is also wanted by Interpol under a "Red Notice" in connection with the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people, according to Iran International, a UK-based news network.

Rezaei is close ally of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.

On Sunday, Rezaei is back at the centre of the country’s national security apparatus after Mojtaba Khamenei, who took over as Iran supreme leader after his father was killed on February 28, appointed Rezaei as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), the country’s highest body coordinating security and foreign policy.

Warning to take 1,000 Americans hostages

In a July 2015 television interview, amid nuclear negotiations, Rezaei warned that if the US pursued military action or ill intent against Iran, “in the very first week we will take at least 1,000 Americans as prisoners”.

Razaei's appointment, announced Sunday by a spokesman for President Masoud Pezeshkian, comes more than five months into the ongoing U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran and signals continued entrenchment of veteran hardliners.

Rezaei, 71, replaces Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who stepped down and was reassigned as a political adviser to Khamenei. 

In a parallel decree, Khamenei also named Rezaei as one of his personal representatives on the council, praising his “valuable experiences,” including his role as a pioneer of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War (referred to in Iran as the "Sacred Defence"). 

The SNSC is formally chaired by the president but the secretary holds significant operational influence. 

Rezaei background

Rezaei commanded the IRGC from 1981 to 1997, overseeing much of the Iran-Iraq War and the force’s expansion. 

He later held political roles, including long service as secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council, an unsuccessful series of presidential runs, and a stint as vice president for economic affairs under former President Ebrahim Raisi (2021-2023). 

After Ali Khamenei’s death in a strike at the outset of the 2026 conflict, Mojtaba Khamenei succeeded him as supreme leader in March; Rezaei was then appointed military adviser to the new leader. 

The broader setting includes the prolonged war that began with U.S. and Israeli strikes, the killing of previous SNSC secretary Ali Larijani, tensions over the Strait of Hormuz, and intermittent diplomacy and threats of further escalation. 

Analysts have described Rezaei’s elevation as reinforcing the power of the old-guard security establishment rather than a shift toward younger elites, and as potentially counterbalancing other figures involved in talks.

Interpol has a Red Notice out for Rezaei in connection with the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people.

Argentine authorities have long alleged Iranian involvement, including a planning role for Rezaei as IRGC commander at the time; he has denied wrongdoing.

Threat to capture Americans

In a July 2015 television interview, amid nuclear negotiations, Rezaei said that if the United States pursued military action or ill intent against Iran, “in the very first week we will capture at least 1,000 Americans as prisoners. Then, to free each one of them, they would have to pay a few billion dollars… and many of our economic problems might be solved as well.”

He revisited similar rhetoric in April 2026. 

Amid the current conflict and discussions of potential ground operations or continued pressure, Rezaei said it would be “great” if the US launched a ground invasion, adding that Iran “would take thousands of hostages and then for each hostage we would get a billion dollars.” 

Parallel comments warned of capturing large numbers of US forces, sinking warships, and broader retaliation.

These statements, long noted by observers as characteristic of Rezaei’s outspoken hardline style, form part of his appointment a by Mojtaba as “a message.” 

Scepticism towards diplomacy

Rezaei has also made other recent pointed remarks on the conflict, including assertions about Iranian capabilities in the Strait of Hormuz and skepticism toward certain diplomatic paths.

Mojtaba’s appointment of Rezaei is seen as a placement of a figure with deep institutional roots, a record of confrontational rhetoric toward the US, and outstanding international legal issues at the centre of Iran’s security decision-making at a tense moment. 

Coverage from Western media has framed it as both a consolidation of power within the security apparatus and a signal of continuity in Tehran’s approach under Mojtaba Khamenei.

The appointment gives a new senior role to a figure whose career has stretched from the Iran-Iraq war to Iran’s modern political establishment.

His record includes a controversial wartime operation, repeated presidential bids and an Interpol Red Notice connected to the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.

From revolutionary militant to Guards commander

Born Mohsen Sabzevar Rezaei Mir-Ghaed in 1954, Rezaei became involved before Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution with Mansouroun, an armed Islamist group opposed to the shah.

After the revolution, Mansouroun joined six other Islamist organizations to form the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization, helping propel Rezaei into the new political establishment.

His rise was swift.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini appointed Rezaei commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guards in 1981, when he was just 27 and Iran was already embroiled in its war with Iraq.

He remained in command until 1997, leading the Guards through most of the eight-year conflict and overseeing its evolution from a revolutionary armed force into one of the Islamic Republic's most powerful military and political institutions.

A wartime record still under scrutiny

Rezaei's tenure included the Karbala-4 operation in December 1986, a major Iranian offensive against Iraqi positions that ended in heavy Iranian casualties and has remained one of the most controversial episodes of the Iran-Iraq war.

The operation has been cited by Iranian critics as an example of the enormous human cost of the revolutionary leadership's wartime strategy.

Rezaei later moved from military command into politics and became secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council, one of Iran's most influential political bodies.

He also ran unsuccessfully for president multiple times, including in 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2021.

His repeated campaigns turned him into a familiar figure in Iranian political life and, at times, a target of online satire.

The AMIA case

Rezaei's international profile has also been shaped by the 1994 bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people and injured hundreds.

Argentina has accused senior Iranian officials, including Rezaei, of involvement in planning the attack. Interpol issued a Red Notice for Rezaei in connection with the case.

Iran has rejected the accusations.

The AMIA case remains one of the most consequential unresolved terrorism investigations involving senior Iranian officials.

A return to the security front line

Rezaei's appointment is particularly significant because of the Supreme National Security Council's role in Iran's most consequential strategic decisions.

The council coordinates security policy across the government and military establishment and is involved in issues ranging from nuclear policy and regional conflicts to relations with Washington.

His simultaneous appointment as Mojtaba Khamenei's representative further strengthens his position within the council.

The move comes as Iran faces an exceptionally volatile security environment, with its confrontation with the United States, the future of the Strait of Hormuz and the prospects for renewed diplomacy all dominating regional politics.

Rezaei's return represents more than another change of personnel.

It puts a veteran of Iran's revolutionary and wartime establishment back at the center of the country's security decision-making — at a moment when Tehran is confronting some of its most consequential choices in decades.

New head of armed forces

On Monday (August 11), Revolutionary Guards General Ali Abdollahi, 67, was also appointed by Mojtaba as head of the country's armed forces.

Mojtaba also confirmed a new commander of the Guards, putting his imprimatur on the country's military.

Abdollahi had previously led the Khatam al-Anbiya, Iran's inter-branch central military command tasked with coordinating operations.

An statement on Khamenei's website announced that "Major General Ali Abdollahi has been appointed chief of staff of the armed forces. Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi has also been appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps with the rank of major general."

Abdollahi and Vahidi represent Khamenei's first senior military appointments since being named supreme leader early in the Middle East war after the death of his father in US-Israeli strikes.

Abdollahi has issued bellicose threats over the course of the war, warning regional neighbours earlier this month that "any country serving as a defensive shield for criminal and aggressive America will be engulfed by the flames of war.”