Brigadier General Hossein Dehghan, former defense minister, fourth commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in Lebanon, and current military adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is the first high-ranking political and military figure in Iran to announce his candidacy in the 13th presidential election.
Dehghan was born in 1957 in Shahreza, Isfahan province. He is not the first senior military figure to contend for the Iranian presidency. IRGC Admiral and former defense minister Ali Shamkhani competed in the 2001 presidential elections. Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, former commander of the IRGC’s air force, competed in the 2005 elections. General Mohsen Rezaei, former IRGC commander, was a candidate in the 2009 and 2013 elections. So far, the country's military figures have not won a majority vote in the presidential election.
Background
Dehghan was introduced to the Islamic Consultative Assembly in August 2013 as the 11th government's choice to take over the Ministry of Defense and In August 2017 he became an advisor to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces in the field of defense industry, by order of Supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
In earlier posts, in the second government, he was deputy chief of staff of the IRGC, and in the seventh government, he served as deputy defense minister. Dehgham was the second commander of the Revolutionary Guards Air Force. During his long military career, he has been the director of the Martyr and Veterans Affairs Foundation, worked in the Cooperative Foundation and the Center for Strategic and Defense Studies, served as commander of the IRGC’s 41st Tharallah Division [ثارالله], and commanded the IRGC’s operational units in Kurdistan. He has also served as the secretary of the Defense Political Commission of the Recognition Assembly and has taught political and military sciences at various universities over the past decade.
Dehgham played a decisive role in the significant changes in the 1997 to 2005 period in the design and production of equipment and defense items in the fields of missiles, naval, space, air and intelligence of various military systems in the Iran’s Ministry of Defense.
Dehgham played a decisive role in the significant changes in the 1997 to 2005 period in the design and production of equipment and defense items
On November 2019, ten Iranian IRGC figures were included in the US Treasury Department's sanctions list. These people were involved in attacks in Lebanon and Argentina, according to the US government. Hossein Dehghan, the Supreme Leader's military aide in the field of defense industry, along with nine other people close to Khamenei were on the list. According to the section dealing with his designation: “Hossein Dehghan was the commander of IRGC forces in Lebanon and Syria in 1983 when the bombing of a Marine compound in Beirut, Lebanon, killed 241 U.S. service members. Iran’s proxy militia, Hizballah, carried out the attack at the direction of the Iranian regime."
Views
Dehghan has said that Iran would not negotiate with the Trump administration and that any US military action would face a harsh response from Iran. in an interview with CNN in Tehran, while wearing military uniform, he displayed a photo of Qassem Soleimani and told Trump that this photo will not leave you.
Dehghan was known as one of the IRGC commanders closest to Soleimani. In an interview with Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), an Iranian state controlled media corporation, he said “ One of the consequences of the US terrorist attack and the martyrdom of Sardar Haj Qassem Soleimani is the cohesion of the Resistance Front. The Americans carried out a series of activities at the request of the Zionists and with the money of countries like Saudi Arabia to prevent the Islamic Republic from infiltrating the region or to take away all elements of power from us. Take a look at events in Iraq shortly before the martyrdom of Hajj Qasim.
The Americans were looking for a managed instability in the region, which could have several consequences; First, it justified their presence in the region; second, it provided a vast market for the sale of their weapons; and third, the countries of the region felt the need for a backer to ensure their security. In addition, they intended to pretend that the cause of this instability was the presence of Iran and the Iranians and the person of Soleimani and the Quds Force. With this crime, Americans can no longer make any claims as a civilized state or society. If until yesterday the Zionists were a terrorist state, now the President of the United States is in the same situation in public opinion.”
In an interview with the IRGC’s affiliated news agency he stressed: “Iran does not welcome war and crisis and does not seek to create war. Meanwhile, Tehran does not accept negotiation for negotiation, time to buy for the other side to further weaken the nation or impose sanctions. The Islamic Republic of Iran will not negotiate its defense force with anyone and under any circumstances. Our missiles are a symbol of the enormous capacity of our experts, youth and industrial sites. “
He described claims of differences between Joe Biden and Donald Trump as "simplistic" and said: "They have a consistent strategy."
In an interview with defapress [Iran’s defense news agency], Dehghan explained how he joined the IRGC and his role in establishing and strengthening Hezbollah in Lebanon:
“I was a student in Tehran when I became a member of this organization with the formation of the IRGC. During the capture of the spy nest[US embassy in Tehran], I was with the students following the Imam's line, but I did not enter the nest. Of course, the students were not supposed to go and stay in the nest, but they were supposed to have a mass protest in front of the embassy and enter. Later, with the naming of Imam Khomeini, this conquest was interpreted as the second revolution. I was in contact with Imam Khomeini students until the end, when the American spies were released.
After the Bait Al Muqaddas operation, the 27th Unit of Muhammad Rasoolullah and a unit of the army went to Syria due to the Zionist regime attack. Then these forces returned and some remained there. The first commander of the IRGC in Lebanon was Ahmad Motusalian, who was abducted. Then Mansour Kouchak Mohseni and Kanaani Moghaddam became commanders. One day they called me and said - you are going to Lebanon. I accepted.
At that time Hezbollah, wasn’t established there. The Amal movement and the separate Islamic Amal movement were active. The Dawa party was also active. Other activists were personalities rather than organizations. These personalities controlled and operated a region. Mr. (Abbas) Mussawi and Mr. Sayed Hassan Nasrallah were independent people in Lebanon who considered themselves attached to the Islamic Revolution and Imam Khomeini. During my service the activities of the IRGC in Lebanon were in the field of training and organizing the Shiite forces. Of course, I must also say that we not only trained, equipped and armed the Shiite forces, but also supported Sunni forces.
When the Zionist regime invaded Lebanon, the United States and France also had naval forces and navies in Lebanon. The Zionist regime attacked under the pretext of expelling the Palestinians who were stationed from the south to Beirut, Lebanon, and carried out a massacre in Sabra and Shatila. While the Lebanese political scene was ruled by Syria, Lebanon had lost its political cohesion and Syria did not have that previous hegemony because it had been militarily invaded by the Zionist regime in the Bekaa Valley and Syria.
Nothing could be done with this scattered population, and at the same time they did not go under the burden of any other group. We should have united the Lebanese Shiites, although no Lebanese can live except to be a member of a party or a political group. As the saying goes, the Lebanese political dose is very high.
We first had to remove political and tribal boundaries. The removal of these borders caused deformity, so we then had to give shape to this situation in order to meet their spiritual, psychological and political needs. We talked to them and told them to put aside these borders and become one, and slowly the issue of Hezbollah was raised. We told Martyr Mussawi to go and repeat the name of Hezbollah in his speeches, which is derived from the Quranic phrase [Hezbollah is the winner. فان حزب الله هم الغابون ] Then the organization was created and a program was written, and the flag and logo of Hezbollah were designed and built. “
After the Beirut Port explosion in a TV interview, Deghgan accused Israel of responsibility.
“Israel did this to make Lebanese believe that Hizbollah was the reason for it. But Lebanese know that Hizbollah serves the interests and security of the Lebanese people. Never ever they opposed the people’s wish. Israel’s goal is to make people oppose Hizbollah. This explosion was surely an Israeli act.
"The mobilization of the countries of the region to join the Zionist regime will not destroy the Palestinian cause"
Dehghan’s view of the recently signed Abraham Accords normalizing Israel’s relations with the UAE and Bahrain:
“The mobilization of the countries of the region to join the Zionist regime will not destroy the Palestinian cause, and leaders will not increase their security by signing a peace treaty with this usurping regime, and only the suppressed anger of the Arab and Muslim nations will explode and an explosion will occur. All the actors in this scene will regret it. “
Dehghan’s comment regarding recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital:
“The Great Satan, with the cooperation of the reactionary countries in the region, started a new movement to firm up the Zionist child-killing regime, the transfer of the Israeli capital to Jerusalem is a big step in the direction of this Israeli plan. “
“ Zionists ,In the last days of the political life of their gambling ally (ie President Donald Trump), seek to intensify and increase the pressure on Iran to wage a full-fledged war. We will descend like lightning on the killers of this oppressed martyr and we will make them regret their actions."
"We also saw in Hezbollah that Mr. Sayed Abbas Mussawi was assassinated by them. a replacement was found named Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, who is known worldwide today and is the biggest point of intimidation for the Zionists. We think that although the damage is great, it is not that there is no alternative; We have many like Fakhrizadeh to continue his path."
Comments about Dehghan by Iranians on Farsi social media:
- Hossein Dehghan has been meeting with the reformist political faction for several months to get their opinion. From this, one can understand his stupidity that instead of addressing the people, he seeks to attract the attention of a faction that itself is in crisis and has illegitimacy.
- Maybe if the country is rightfully owned by the IRGC, they will take care of us like Syria and Lebanon.
- Hossein Dehghan is a reformist in military uniform who supports Barjam [JCPOA], he can not be trusted.
- After Khamenei's death, wait for the coup of Mojtaba Khamenei and the IRGC against the Rouhani government! Leadership is eliminated. The country becomes a parliament. Hussein Dehghan becomes the interim president of the country after Mojtaba. People, get weapons, it is time for the Islamic Republic to finish.
- The IRGC is preparing to run for the presidency of 1400 #Hossein_Dehghan. they want to seize this last base of power.
- Among the high-ranking commanders of the IRGC, Hossein Dehghan is an exception who was responsible in the wrong time and place. Some of his interesting and sometimes strange features that others do not mention: 1) He hates propaganda. 2) He hates Putin (Russia). 3) He is extremely infatuated with Reza Shah! 4) Knows management with advanced concepts.
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