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Hossein Dehqan – ‘A merit-based administration’

Sunday, 23 May 2021 12:30 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 24 May 2021 4:16 AM ]

Former Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan addresses reporters after registering his candidacy for the June 18 presidential election, at the Interior Ministry, Tehran, May 15, 2021. (Photo by Tasnim)

Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan is a former minister of defense and currently serves as an adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on military affairs.

Dehqan soon joined the IRGC, an elite military force that was established following the 1979 Islamic Revolution. He held several posts at different IRGC units, including as the commander of the IRGC Air Force.

During the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, Dehqan served as a leading IRGC commander.

He quit military duties to work at the Iranian administration in 2003, when he became deputy defense minister under the then-President Seyyed Mohammad Khatami.

The general also served as an adviser to former President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, former Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, and former Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf.

However, Dehqan distanced himself from Ahmedinejad in 2012 and served as President Hassan Rouhani’s defense minister during his first four-year term.

Dehqan was born in 1957 in the village of Pudeh in Isfahan Province, central Iran, and holds a Ph.D. in management.