New UANI Resource Profiles Khamenei Advisor Asghar Mir-Hejazi

(New York, N.Y.) — On June 4, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei marked the 33rd anniversary of his succession as Iran’s supreme leader. Today, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) announced the release of a new resource revealing the influence of Asghar Mir-Hejazi, a lesser-known but close intelligence and security advisor to Khamenei. Mir-Hejazi is one of the most influential actors in the Iranian system who flies below the radar of most Western media coverage.  

The U.S.-sanctioned Mir-Hejazi has been part of the inner circle of the Office of the Supreme Leader since Khamenei assumed the role in 1989. Throughout his tenure, Mir-Hejazi has emerged as a messenger, conveying the supreme leader’s opinions and orders to other parts of the Iranian system, including the president, speaker of parliament, and chief justice. He has been intimately involved in government appointments, is suspected of being involved in the decision-making for the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires, and is believed to have acted as a liaison between Iranian leadership and assassins targeting high profile dissidents in Europe and between the IRGC, Basij, and Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS).  

In the U.S. Treasury Department’s designation of Mir-Hejazi in 2013, it said he is “considered the working brain behind the scenes of important events” and “is closely involved in all discussions and deliberations related to military and foreign affairs.” In a separate designation in 2020, Treasury also noted Mir-Hejazi “maintains close links to the IRGC’s Quds Force.” Mir-Hejazi has been seen in photographs with Khamenei and the late Soleimani, and his son is suspected of managing intelligence operations in Europe, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East for the Quds Force.  

To read UANI’s resource, Asghar Mir-Hejazi: The Supreme Leader’s Enforcer, please click here.

To read UANI’s resource, Who Will Be Iran’s Next Supreme Leader, please click here. 

To read UANI’s resource, Organizational Chart of the Islamic Republic of Iran, please click here.  

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