Iranian Guard Commander Emerges as Key Decision Maker on Strikes Against Israel

Ahmad Vahidi, the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has become the most influential decision maker in Tehran during the war, the Wall Street Journal reported overnight Sunday. According to the paper, Vahidi was behind the decision to fire at Israel last week in an effort to stop Israel’s fighting against Hezbollah.

The report said more moderate voices in Iran wanted to cancel the attacks, fearing they could jeopardize a deal with the United States that would help the Iranian economy. Even so, Vahidi persuaded Iran’s Supreme National Security Council to back the strikes, leading to the exchange of fire on April 8.

Vahidi has reportedly given top priority to Iranian deterrence and to protecting Hezbollah, and has pushed for any agreement with Washington to depend on ending the war in Lebanon. Arab, European and Iranian sources told the Wall Street Journal that during the war he gained more influence than President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, both of whom wanted a quick deal with the United States to avoid an American naval blockade.

Unlike others, Vahidi has insisted that Iran preserve its ballistic missile stockpile and free up state assets, while rejecting limits on how those assets can be used for nonmilitary purposes. The report also said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been the main obstacle to a deal so far, and that Vahidi’s position is now shaping Iran’s negotiating stance on ending the war. His forces control the Strait of Hormuz, the regime’s strongest bargaining chip. Vahidi is under U.S. sanctions for his role in suppressing women’s protests in 2022, and Interpol wants him in connection with the 1994 bombing of the Jewish community building in Buenos Aires.