After Operation Epic Fury killed dozens of top Iranian government and military leaders, experts worry there is a new figure that has suddenly emerged from the shadows that could derail any hope of peace in Iran.
According to security analysts, Maj. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has mobilized his inner circle to take control of Iran’s military response and negotiating team.
Earlier this week, Vahidi and his allies took control, shifting Iran to an even harder-line stance, with officials refusing to join peace talks with the US this week and Tehran stepping up attacks on ships trying to sail through the Strait of Hormuz, despite the ongoing ceasefire.
Vahidi had served as commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force in the 1990s, building up Iran’s influence across the Middle East before handing the reins to Islamic terror mastermind Qasem Soleimani.
Vahidi and Soleimani have often been credited with laying the groundwork for Iran’s Islamic terror proxies to grow abroad, including the Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon.
Unlike the last two IRGC chiefs, Vahidi served in Iran’s government, holding senior roles and serving as defense minister and interior minister under two administrations and was appointed as the IRGC’s deputy chief last December by slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
However, when Khamenei and former IRGC chief Mohammad Pakpour were killed by US-Israeli airstrikes in February, Vahidi rose to the top of Iran’s paramilitary force.
Experts warn that Vahidi, who is heavily sanctioned by the West and linked to terror attacks around the world, represents Iran’s most extreme faction that has sidelined Tehran’s moderates, including those leading the current negotiations with the US.
Even if the US were to secure a deal with Iran’s delegation, the team may not have any actual influence in Iran as long as Vahidi and his allies remain involved.
Vahidi’s control of Iran’s negotiating team became evident when he was able to tap Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary and an IRGC veteran, to join the delegation earlier this month.
Zolghadr was specifically sent to ensure the delegation was following the IRGC’s hardline directives, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
The security secretary proved to do just that when he reported Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi after the diplomat allegedly suggested that Iran was willing to make concessions during the first round of peace talks.
“Zolghadr sent a complaint to senior IRGC leaders, almost certainly including Vahidi, that Araghchi had surpassed his mandate during the negotiations by expressing flexibility regarding Iran’s support for the Axis of Resistance,” the ISW said of the ongoing peace talks.
“Zolghadr’s anger caused senior leaders in Tehran, including former IRGC Intelligence Organization Chief and long-time member of Mojtaba’s inner circle, Hossein Taeb, to call the negotiating delegation back to Tehran,” ISW added.
Since then, Iran’s delegation has yet to return to Pakistan to continue peace talks with the US, implying that Vahidi and Zolghadr’s alliance continues to dominate Iran.
Vahidi is tied to catastrophic terror attacks globally.
He was among nine top Hezbollah and Iranian officials accused of helping plan and execute the 1994 bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people.
Interpol issued a red notice against Vahidi, urging law enforcement entities around the world to find and arrest him, making the IRGC commander an internationally wanted terrorist.
Along with the 1994 bombing, Argentine investigators have linked Vahidi to the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires.
Vahidi has been sanctioned in the US for his links to Iran’s nuclear and missile programs, with the IRGC head facing a second wave of sanctions in 2022 after Iran’s brutal crackdown on protesters over the death of Mahsa Amini.
The European Union also hit Vahidi with sanctions in 2022 for the regime’s use of live ammunition in the 2022 protests, which left nearly 500 people dead, according to human rights groups.