Ali Akbar Ahmadian, born in 1961, was appointed by the founder of the Iranian revolution, Imam Khomeini, in 1985 as chief of staff of the Revolutionary Guards' naval force, after which Ahmidan continued to progress in military and security positions until President Ebrahim Raisi installed him on May 22, 2023, as secretary-general of the Supreme National Security Council.

Ahmadian was appointed after his predecessor Ali Shamkhani resigned following pressure since Raisi (the conservative president) took office in 2021.

Birth and upbringing

Ahmadian was born in 1961 in the city of Babak, located in Kerman province, southeastern Iran, and grew up in a conservative environment, and was educated in his family, which was a teacher in his hometown, until he moved in 1975 to the city of Kerman, the provincial center, to complete his studies in the preparatory stage.

Coinciding with the victory of the revolution in 1979, he succeeded in applying to the dental branch at the University of Tehran, but he joined the mobilization forces with the outbreak of the war with Iraq (in 1988-1980), leaving academic education, to start his military career on the battlefronts in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, until he became a member of the Revolutionary Guards.

During the Iran-Iraq war and the early days of his youth, he accompanied former Quds Force commander Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who hailed from a village near his hometown, and worked with him in the 41st Revenge of God Division, based in Kerman province.

Study and training

After the war with Iraq ended in 1988, Ahmadian, who became a commander of the Revolutionary Guards, returned to campus to obtain a doctorate in dentistry, but the positions he had been assigned convinced him to continue his graduate studies at the military college.

He received a master's degree in "defense sciences", which paved the way for him to continue his academic education in "strategic management" at the National Defense Military University in the capital Tehran.

Ali Ahmadian, deputy of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (left) with Qassem Soleimani (AP)

Military experience

Ahmadian began his career in 1980 as a frontline military commander in charge of Noah's military headquarters, before assuming the chief of staff of the Revolutionary Guards' naval force in 1985 by order of the founder of the revolution, and remained in his position until the end of the Iraq war. He then served as deputy commander of the navy until 1997, when he commanded the IRGC naval force until 2000.

He was then entrusted with the IRGC's Joint Chiefs of Staff between 2000 and 2007, and during his six years there he worked on the IRGC's "organizational transformation" project, which came into effect under Ahmadian's own leadership, after approval by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, which led to the development and modernization of the IRGC's naval capabilities in Gulf waters.

In 2007, Ahmadian moved to the IRGC's Strategic Center as president and remained in office until May 21, 2023, when he announced the next day his appointment as the new secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.

On September 20, 2022, Supreme Leader Khamenei appointed him a member of the Expediency Council.

In reports published by Iran's Persian-speaking media, especially agencies close to the IRGC, Ahmadian is mentioned as the architect of many naval operations "in the context of reciprocity" and that he personally supervised some of them, including countering the US fleet in Gulf waters.

Western sanctions

In 2007, the US Treasury designated Ahmadian along with other senior IRGC officials, and the European Union took a similar step in April of the same year.

After Tehran and the Group of Six (the United States, France, Germany and Britain, as well as China and Russia) signed the nuclear deal in 2015, Ahmadian, along with 22 other military leaders, was removed from the sanctions list under the 2023 UN resolution.