Ahmad Vahidi

Ahmad Vahidi is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps operational chief and the man whose endorsement determines whether any Iran deal holds. His faction suspended talks on 1 June after Trump amended the draft MoU. The IRGC-aligned Tasnim News Agency on 13 June declared the text still required review by relevant institutions, undercutting Trump's claim it was approved at the highest level of Iranian leadership. On 17 June 2026, Vahidi became the first named IRGC official to specify where the relief money would go: he publicly demanded that any released frozen assets be allowed to fund missiles and drones, handing Senate critics a quote against the $300bn reconstruction package. ISW assessed that 60 days of resumed oil exports could yield approximately $10bn for reconstituting Iran's missile and drone programmes. Reuters reported on 5 July that Mojtaba Khamenei, Supreme Leader since March, was disfigured and suffered a serious leg injury in the airstrike that killed his father, with no public sighting in the four months since. Vahidi himself had been out of public view since going into hiding in early February, before resurfacing on 3 July beside Ali Khamenei's casket ahead of the state funeral, a reappearance that underlined his role as the figure holding Iran's military and negotiating tracks together while the Supreme Leader remains unseen.

Vahidi served as Defence Minister from 2009 to 2013 under Ahmadinejad and Interior Minister from 2021 to 2024 under Raisi. He is indicted by Argentina for the 1994 AMIA bombing (85 killed) and carries an Interpol red notice. From April 2026 his council sidelined Foreign Minister Araghchi, writing the diplomatic track directly.

Vahidi's 17 June statement sharpens the structural collision at the heart of the MOU: the man Washington needs to have accepted the deal is the man now publicly declaring the relief money is for weapons. That quote travels directly to the Senate floor. With the Supreme Leader physically diminished and unconfirmed by any public appearance, Vahidi's continuous, visible presence, at the negotiating table, on state television, and now beside Khamenei's casket, makes him the most concrete answer available to who actually runs Iran day to day.