IRGC’s new leader is seasoned terror leader, wanted by Interpol

Experts say Ahmad Vahidi, who is believed to have plotted the deadly bombing of a Jewish center, will not seek compromise with the West.

By World Israel News Staff

The new commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Ahmad Vahidi, is deeply committed to the fundamentalist ideology of the Islamic regime and is wanted by Interpol for his suspected involvement in a major terrorist attack on Argentine soil.

Vahidi is believed to have participated in planning the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, which killed 84 people, and is wanted for questioning by Interpol.

Over the decades, Vahidi has risen through the ranks of the IRGC’s elite Quds Force, a unit tasked with supporting Iran’s regional proxy network, including Hezbollah and Shiite militias in Iraq.

The Quds Force facilitates terrorism by helping groups allied with the Islamic regime plan attacks and smuggles weapons throughout the Middle East.

Experts say Vahidi’s appointment signals a continuation of Iran’s hardline policies.

Nati Tubian, an Iran analyst, told The Jerusalem Post that Vahidi is “truly flesh of the regime’s flesh — a product of the IRGC’s foundational years who has climbed every rung of the ladder.”

Tubian emphasized that the new IRGC chief is unlikely to engage in diplomacy with the United States.

“Vahidi belongs to the hardline core that prefers to fight ‘whatever it takes’ rather than accept a ceasefire,” he said.

That assessment was echoed by Tamar Eilam-Gindin, a professor at the University of Haifa’s Meir and Miriam Ezri Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies.

“Unlike the president or the foreign minister, Vahidi cannot be described as a pragmatist or a reformist,” she told the Post.

“He is a fundamentalist who believes in the path of resistance above all else,” she added.

In addition to his international activities, Vahidi was reportedly a key strategist in suppressing the 2022 “Women, Life, Freedom” protests in Iran.

The demonstrations erupted after the death of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish Iranian woman detained by the country’s morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly.

“He is a fundamentalist with Iranian blood on his hands,” Tubian noted.