Iran Confirms Missile-Industry Veteran Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi as Defence Minister

Iran’s parliament on Sunday, 18 October 2026, confirmed Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi, a veteran of the country’s missile industry, as Minister of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics. He won 237 votes in favour and 15 against, with no abstentions, out of 277 votes cast in an online session, state broadcaster IRIB reported, according to Anadolu Agency. The post had been held by an acting minister since Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh was killed in the opening US-Israeli strikes on 28 February.

Last updated: 18 October 2026

Defense and Tech graphic summarising the Iranian parliament's 18 October 2026 vote confirming Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi as defence minister — Defense and Tech original graphic based on IRIB, ISNA, Reuters, The National and UN Security Council records. Not a photograph.

Key facts

Who: Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi, former head of Iran’s Aerospace Industries Organisation and Defence Industries Organisation
Vote: 237 for, 15 against, no abstentions, 277 votes cast (IRIB, ISNA)
Replaces: acting minister Majid Ebn al-Reza; the last full minister, Aziz Nasirzadeh, was killed on 28 February
Sanctions: listed by the UN Security Council in March 2007 as head of the Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group; Reuters says he is under US and EU sanctions
Not verified: his claims about countering a possible US ‘Mother of All Bombs’ strike

What happened in the Majlis

Lawmakers voted after hearing speakers for and against the nominee and reviewing his plans for the ministry, Anadolu reported, citing IRIB. The semi-official ISNA news agency said the vote made him Iran’s defence minister officially; the state news agency IRNA carried the same result. President Masoud Pezeshkian put his name forward on 5 October, The National reported.

Speaking in support of the nomination, Pezeshkian credited Akhlaghi’s work alongside Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam and Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, whom he referred to as martyrs, with building Iran’s defence capability to a level at which, he said, foreign powers would not dare to attack. He also told lawmakers that the nominee was under US sanctions and on what he called an “assassination list”, ISNA reported.

What the new minister says he will do

In the programme he presented to parliament, Akhlaghi pledged to rebuild Iran’s military-industrial infrastructure, speed up the development of defence technologies and expand cooperation with private companies, Reuters reported. Anadolu quoted him as saying his priorities included spreading defence production across Iran’s industrial network, increasing research and adapting the ministry’s structure to current threats.

He also issued warnings to Washington. Before the vote he told lawmakers that if the United States and Israel attacked again, the response would be “surprising and extensive”. After the vote he told reporters that Iran had “taken the necessary measures” to counter a possible US use of the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, the so-called “Mother of All Bombs”, and said that if President Donald Trump dropped “a single bomb” he would have to consider how many US troops would be carried out of the region “in a horizontal position”. CNN reported this week that US strike plans could include the weapon, according to Reuters. Neither Iran’s claimed counter-measures nor the reported US plans can be independently verified.

Who is Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi?

Unlike several previous defence ministers, who rose through military command posts, Akhlaghi built his career inside Iran’s state weapons industry, Iran International noted. The UN Security Council’s Iran sanctions committee records that he was listed on 24 March 2007, under Resolution 1747, as head of the Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group, an entity designated for its role in Iran’s ballistic missile programme. He later led the Aerospace Industries Organisation, to which he was appointed in 2014, and the Defence Industries Organisation, which produces conventional weapons, according to The National and Iran International. Reuters reports that he is subject to US and EU sanctions.

Iranian state media go further. A Press TV profile credits him with a leading role in the Fateh-110 short-range ballistic missile and with work linked to the Sejjil and to solid-propellant surface-to-surface missiles, as well as with responsibility for building the Imam Khomeini Space Launch Center. It also says he “transferred rocketry capability to allied forces across the region”. These are claims by a state outlet and have not been independently verified.

Why the appointment matters for Iran’s defence industry

The Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics is the government body that oversees Iran’s state defence-industrial organisations, including the aerospace and defence industries groups Akhlaghi used to run. Reuters described the appointment as putting a defence-sector veteran in charge of the country’s defence production and procurement apparatus, after months of interim leadership. For Iran’s neighbours and for Western governments that have sanctioned him, the choice signals that rebuilding missile and weapons production is the ministry’s priority. The Press TV line about regional allies lands at a sensitive moment for the Gulf: early on Sunday the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted two ballistic missiles fired by Yemen’s Houthis at Khamis Mushait, The National reported. Our Iran war latest page tracks the wider conflict.

What we do not know

The full text of his programme, the ministry’s budget and any timeline for reconstruction have not been published. We will update this report if the ministry or parliament release further details.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Iran’s new defence minister?

Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi, a long-serving defence-industry official who previously headed Iran’s Aerospace Industries Organisation. Parliament confirmed him on 18 October 2026.