Iran's New Defence Minister Warns US Against Renewing Attacks

Iran's newly appointed defence minister, Mehrdad Akhlaghi, warned on Sunday, October 18, that renewed American attacks would bring severe damage to the United States and the wider region. The Economic Times reported that he made the remarks to reporters shortly after parliament approved his appointment.

Akhlaghi expressed confidence that Washington would refrain from another attack, while threatening consequences if it resumed its military campaign. According to the Iranian government website cited in the report, he received 237 votes in favour out of 277 votes cast in the Islamic Consultative Assembly for the post of minister of defence and armed forces logistics.

Appointment follows predecessor's reported death

The report said Akhlaghi succeeds Aziz Nasirzadeh, who was killed in a US-Israeli strike on a leadership compound on February 28, alongside then-supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and senior military commanders. It described that attack as occurring on the first day of the conflict, nearly eight months before the parliamentary vote.

Before lawmakers voted, Akhlaghi described the prospective responsibility of leading the ministry as coming at a sensitive moment, according to remarks attributed to the ISNA news agency.

Lavrov visit announced

Separately, Iran's foreign ministry announced that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would visit Tehran on Monday, October 19, for talks with Iranian officials. The ministry said the visit would include following up on the implementation of bilateral agreements.