IRIB Denies Ahmad Vahidi Met Pakistan Minister as 85-Victim Bombing Suspect Gains Iran War Role
Updated
Updated · Euronews · May 21
IRIB Denies Ahmad Vahidi Met Pakistan Minister as 85-Victim Bombing Suspect Gains Iran War Role
5 articles · Updated · Euronews · May 21
IRIB said Ahmad Vahidi did not meet Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and that photos cited online were from 2024, when Vahidi was Iran's interior minister.
Thursday's reports had said Naqvi passed Vahidi a Washington message on negotiations, underscoring Vahidi's growing role in both Tehran's military response and back-channel diplomacy.
The brigadier general and deputy IRGC commander is seen by analysts as part of the inner circle shaping Iran's stance since the war began in February, including strategy around the Strait of Hormuz and uranium stockpiles.
Vahidi has long been a hardline security figure: Argentina accuses him of helping plan the 1994 AMIA bombing that killed 85 people, and he later oversaw the 2022 protest crackdown in which rights groups say more than 500 were killed.
The denial leaves mediation efforts murky after April talks in Islamabad failed and Iranian hardliners attacked officials they said were too willing to compromise with Washington.
With hardliner Ahmad Vahidi consolidating power, is a diplomatic end to the Iran war now impossible?
Did the US strike that killed Khamenei create a more radical and resilient Iranian regime under Vahidi?
As the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, what is the endgame for the escalating economic warfare with Iran?
Ahmad Vahidi and the Militarization of Iran: Power Consolidation, Hardline Strategy, and the 2026 US-Iran War Deadlock
Overview
Since the outbreak of war with the United States in February 2026, Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi has become a central figure in Iran’s military and diplomatic leadership. After the death of his predecessor in US-Israeli strikes, Vahidi took command of the IRGC, gaining broad influence as Iran suffered heavy losses among senior leaders. His rise has shifted Iran’s decision-making toward a hardline, security-driven approach, with Vahidi and other military elites shaping both war strategy and negotiations. This consolidation of power has made Iran’s government more opaque and its diplomatic stance more rigid, complicating efforts to reach peace.