Ahmad Vahidi: The IRGC Chief Waging Iran's Asymmetric War
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- Ahmad Vahidi was appointed IRGC Commander-in-Chief within days of the February 28 US-Israeli strike that killed his predecessor Mohammad Pakpour, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and several other senior officials.
- Vahidi founded the Quds Force in the late 1980s and laid the groundwork for Iran's 'Axis of Resistance,' a network later expanded by his successor Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a January 2020 US airstrike near Baghdad.
- Under Vahidi's command, the IRGC has closed the Strait of Hormuz, struck US bases across the Persian Gulf, and attacked Israel — pursuing asymmetric, regionalized warfare rather than proportional conventional response.
- Vahidi was sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2010 for his role in Iran's missile, drone, and nuclear procurement programs during his tenure as Defence Minister under President Ahmadinejad, a period Fars News called 'the golden age of Iran's defensive deterrence.'
- An Interpol Red Notice remains active for Vahidi over the 1994 AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people; he is also sanctioned by Canada, the EU, and the US for alleged terrorism and nuclear proliferation ties.
- Iran and the US abandoned the April 8 ceasefire and a July 17 memorandum of understanding to return to all-out war over the Strait of Hormuz, which the IRGC retains tight control of despite US Navy claims the waterway is open.
Why it matters: Vahidi's ascent places a founding IRGC ideologue — not a political figure — at the apex of Iran's wartime decision-making as the country faces sustained US-Israeli bombardment and economic strangulation via the Strait of Hormuz closure. His stated theory of victory — to ensure 'Iran survives and the state endures, while defeating the enemy by denying a victory' — means Tehran will resist conventional capitulation and keep regional escalation alive rather than accept terms that dismantle its nuclear program.
