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As President Donald Trump’s deadline for Iran to decide whether to extend the two-week ceasefire between the countries approaches, attention is increasingly turning not to Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian, but to a shadowy Revolutionary Guard commander with a long record of terror, repression and radical ideology.
Ahmad Vahidi, who was recently promoted to the top of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the elite paramilitary force within Iran’s military, is emerging as one of the most powerful men in Iran and, according to analysts, one of the key figures who could decide whether Tehran will resume fighting or continue talks.
Foreign policy analyst and journalist Lisa Daftari told Fox News Digital, “By any standards, Vahidi is considered a radical even within the regime’s hardline elite, and his rise is a warning that Tehran’s war machine is now making the decisions.”
Daftari said, “Putting someone with such a bloody and murderous record at the helm of the Revolutionary Guard Corps confirms that the regime is not relenting under pressure. On the contrary, it is doubling down on those whose careers have been built on hostage-taking, assassinations, and domestic repression. By any standard, Vahidi is considered a radical even within the regime’s hardline elite, and his rise is a warning that “Tehran’s war machine is now taking the decisions.”
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Why it matters: Analysts say Vahidi’s rise could decide whether Iran moves toward peace or deeper conflict. For the United States, this means increased risks to troops, allies, and global stability if a radicalized individual with a history of ties to terrorist networks is now helping carry out attacks in Iran.
Ahmad Vahidi, who has recently been promoted to the top of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the elite paramilitary force within Iran’s military, is emerging as one of the most powerful men in Iran. (Mortaza Nicoubazal/Nurfoto)
Power has become increasingly concentrated outside formal institutions
Vahidi’s rise comes at a time when Iran’s formal political institutions appear weaker than ever.
Experts today describe the Islamic Republic as a system in which informal networks and personal relationships matter more than official titles.
Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, described Iran as “not a system of laws, but of men, but a system whose success hinges on institutionalizing their power,” where decisions increasingly flow through Revolutionary Guard figures rather than the civilian government.
Beni Sabati, an Iran expert at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said Vahidi may now be more influential than parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf or even Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei.
“In my opinion, he is more dominant right now, even if there is coordination. This is not the time for internal competition,” Sabati said. He said Wahidi is the only person who meets the new supreme leader face to face.
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Long before the world knew the name Qassem Soleimani, Vahidi was one of those who helped build the infrastructure of Iran’s foreign terror operations. (Mortaza Nicoubzal/Nur Photo)
He led the Quds Force before Qasim Sulemani.
Long before the world knew the name of Qasim Sulemani, The longtime commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force who was killed in a 2020 US drone strike, Vahidi was one of those who helped build the infrastructure of Iran’s foreign terror operations.
He served as commander of the Quds Force in the 1990s, before Soleimani took charge of the elite unit responsible for foreign operations, covert action and supporting proxy groups.
Analysts say Vahidi played a central role in building a network of Iran’s terrorist allies throughout the Middle East, particularly Lebanon.
“Ahmad Vahidi is the embodiment of the most extremist wing of the Islamic Republic,” Daftari told Fox News Digital. “As Qassem Soleimani’s predecessor in the Quds Force, he helped build Tehran’s terror infrastructure abroad.”
Sabati said Vahidi was part of the original generation of Iranian operatives who built ties with terrorist groups in Lebanon before and after the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Some accounts suggest he trained in camps linked to Palestinian and Lebanese factions in southern Lebanon, helping lay the foundation for Iran’s alliance with the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Analysts and Western governments have linked Vahidi to some of the deadliest attacks carried out by Iranian-backed networks over the past four decades.
As commander of the Quds Force from 1988 to 1998, he has been linked to the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing that killed 241 US service members, the 1996 Khobar Towers attack in Saudi Arabia, and the 2008 attack on the US embassy in Yemen.
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei received protection from the elite NOPO force after his father was assassinated in a US-Israeli attack on a Tehran compound on February 28. (Mortaza Nicoubazal/Nurfoto)
One of the world’s most wanted Iranian officials
Daftari said Vahidi “has been implicated by Argentinian prosecutors in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA (Associación Mutual Israelita Argentina) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.” 85 people were killed in the bombing.
Argentinian investigators and courts have also linked Wahidi to the 1992 Israeli embassy bombings in Buenos Aires, although the Interpol Red Notice against him is specifically for his alleged role in the 1994 AMIA bombing.
In April, Argentina again drew attention to it when the government of its President Javier Meili declared the entire Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization and released Wahidi’s name.
Announcing the move, the Argentine government said red notices would remain in place for several Iranian officials, “among them former Defense Minister Ahmed Vahidi, who was recently appointed to lead the IRGC.”
Wahidi is subject to multiple levels of sanctions by both the United States and the European Union. The sanctions have largely restricted their ability to travel, transfer money or do business internationally.
Washington first imposed sanctions on them in 2010 over ties to Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. Vahidi was re-designated in 2022 for “being an official of the Government of Iran and being responsible for or participating in, or ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing the commission of serious human rights abuses against persons in Iran or against Iranian nationals or residents, or family members of the foregoing, on or after June 12, 2009, regardless of whether such abuses occurred in Iran.”
He was re-designated by the United States under Executive Order 13553 in 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini, when he served as Minister of the Interior and oversaw the regime’s response to nationwide protests.
According to the US Treasury, Vahidi was sanctioned for masterminding the internet blackout and directing Iran’s law enforcement command, known as NAJA, during the operation.
The EU first banned them in 2008, and imposed parallel bans in 2022 on the use of live ammunition, arbitrary detention of protesters and journalists, and violent repression of demonstrations.
Human rights groups accused Iranian authorities of carrying out shootings, mass arrests, and torture against protesters, resulting in more than 30,000 deaths.
Yigal Carman, founder and president of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), warned, “Under his leadership, many more such crimes are expected to occur against both Jews and non-Jews in the West.”
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Iran’s Interior Minister Ahmed Vahidi briefs the media about the upcoming elections in Tehran, Iran, on March 4, 2024. Argentina sought Wahidi’s arrest on April 23, 2024, over his alleged involvement in the deadly 1994 bombing of the Buenos Aires Jewish Community Center. (Vahid Salemi/AP)
Analysts say he represents the regime’s most radical faction
Experts say Vahidi is not only another radical, but also one of the most extremist figures within Iran’s already radicalized ruling elite.
Sabti is warning that Vahidi’s growing influence could reduce Tehran’s chances of agreeing to an actual ceasefire.
“He brings more radicalization to the system and probably doesn’t want to stop the war, because it serves the interests of the Revolutionary Guards to continue,” Sabati said.
One of Vahidi’s biggest concerns is that even if Iran agrees to a ceasefire, it may simply see it as an opportunity to regroup.
As Trump’s term approaches, this concern has taken on new urgency.
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Iranians react after the announcement of the ceasefire at Enkelab Square in Tehran, Iran on April 8, 2026. (AFP via Getty Images)
If Vahidi is indeed the one increasingly making decisions in Iran, analysts say the main question is not whether Iran wants a ceasefire, but whether the Revolutionary Guard commander believes continued confrontation is better for his interests.
Carman said, “To trust him is a grave mistake. He belongs to the hard ‘Death to America’ corps.”
Iran’s mission to the United Nations declined to comment.
