Key Figures and Leaders

In August 2021, President Ebrahim Raisi nominated Javad Oji as his Oil Minister, one of the most important posts in the Islamic Republic given the state’s reliance on the oil and gas industry.

In June 2021, the Islamic Consultative Council, also known as the Majles or Parliament, elected Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf as its speaker for the second consecutive year, a position he has retained since. In 2020, Ghalibaf had taken over from Ali Larijani, who was the longest-serving speaker in the history of the Islamic Republic. The Supreme Leader has significantly eroded the Parliament’s authority over the years, controlling the field of eligible candidates running for seats and exercising informal influence behind the legislature and the Speaker. As the head of one of the three branches, the Speaker sits on Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and the Supreme Economic Coordination Council.

In January 2023, Iran’s Supreme Leader elevated Ahmad-Reza Radan as the commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Law Enforcement Command (LEC), which is the national police. Radan is a notorious figure, whose career has progressed in tandem with the process of increasing securitization within the Islamic Republic. His ascendance reflects the Iranian system’s desire to suppress the profound revolutionary sentiments among Iranians, and its inability to reform.

In August 2021, the Islamic Consultative Assembly ratified the appointment of Ahmad Vahidi, former Defense Minister and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force commander, as Interior Minister.  The Interior Ministry heads the Interior Security Council of the Supreme National Security Council, leading some to label the ministry as the most strategically important in the Islamic Republic, especially given the mass protest events in the country since 2017. Additionally, there is an Interpol Red Notice for Vahidi’s arrest related to his alleged involvement in the 1994 bombing of the Jewish AMIA center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people.

Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi has steadily risen through the ranks of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Spending most of his career in the judiciary, Raisi’s ascendance can be explained by three factors: promotion by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, an influential family network, and a knack for leveraging state positions to feed his ambition. Raisi has spent his career developing his image as an anti-corruption crusader. In recent years, Raisi has emerged as a leading candidate to succeed Khamenei.