A former commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guards accused by Argentine prosecutors of involvement in a deadly 1994 bombing of a Jewish center was appointed the deputy chief of Iran's armed forces general staff, Iranian media reported on Thursday.
The 1994 attack on the Jewish community center Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) killed 85 people. Prosecutors in 2006 accused Iran of orchestrating the attack and its Lebanese affiliate Hezbollah of carrying it out.
At the time, Vahidi was the head of the Quds Force, the external operations branch of Iran's sprawling paramilitary organization the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Following an international arrest warrant issued by Argentine judicial authorities in 2006, Interpol placed him on its wanted list the following year.
Although no official decree has been published, several state-linked outlets, including Tasnim News and Defa Press, referred to him by the new title.
The move, first flagged by the Telegram channel Sabrin News, reflects another quiet reshuffle within Iran’s top ranks after a Israeli military campaign assassinated hundreds of military personnel in June, along with hundreds of civilians.
Vahidi succeeds Mohammad Reza Gharaei Ashtiani, the former defense minister, and returns to a prominent military position less than three months after leaving the Interior Ministry.
He had served as defense minister from 2009 to 2013 and as interior minister from 2021 to 2024, overseeing a deadly crackdown on the Woman, Life, Freedom protest movement in 2022. The US Treasury sanctioned him in October 2022 for human rights abuses and restricting internet access during the demonstrations.
Vahidi’s appointment signals the continued rise of hardline Revolutionary Guards veterans within Iran’s top command and a preference for loyal security figures close to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
