---
title: "Iran gives its defence ministry to the man who has been building its missiles"
description: "Mehrdad Akhlaghi wins a 237-15 vote as Tehran promises an unfamiliar war plan and claims two tankers hit mines in Hormuz"
author: "Nate Ledger"
published: 2026-10-18T13:52:24Z
modified: 2026-10-19T05:48:25Z
url: https://rews.cc/a/iran-gives-its-defence-ministry-to-the-man-who-has-been-buil-776d45
language: en
tags: ["iran", "war", "military", "oil", "missiles", "mideast", "business"]
publisher: "Rews (https://rews.cc)"
---

# Iran gives its defence ministry to the man who has been building its missiles

*Mehrdad Akhlaghi wins a 237-15 vote as Tehran promises an unfamiliar war plan and claims two tankers hit mines in Hormuz*

By Nate Ledger · October 18, 2026 · https://rews.cc/a/iran-gives-its-defence-ministry-to-the-man-who-has-been-buil-776d45

## In brief

- Iran’s parliament, meeting online, confirmed Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi, 68, as defence minister by 237 votes to 15
- Akhlaghi replaces Aziz Nasirzadeh, killed on February 28, and has run the state weapons maker since 2013
- Security council secretary Mohsen Rezaei said Iran has a ‘new operational plan’ for any renewed US-Israeli attack
- The IRGC said two tankers carrying about 2 million barrels each hit mines in Hormuz; the claim is unverified
- Brent settled at $109.86 on Friday, up 3.7%, as UKMTO reported more attacks on ships around Arabia

Iran has a new defence minister, and the most useful thing to know about him is that he is a manufacturer. Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi, 68, was confirmed by parliament on Sunday by 237 votes to 15, [Al Jazeera’s Maziar Motamedi reported](https://aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/18/who-is-mehrdad-akhlagh-irans-new-tech-focused-defence-minister). His career has been in ballistic missiles, aerospace technology and defence-industrial production. The vote was held online, because Iran’s parliament has met that way since February 28, when the US-Israeli war on Iran began. That tells you how Iranian officials feel about all sitting in one room at once.

The reason the job was open is grim. According to [Mehr News Agency](https://en.mehrnews.com/news/248676/Iran-parliament-approves-Akhlaghi-as-new-defense-minister) and other outlets, Akhlaghi replaces Aziz Nasirzadeh, who was killed in the February 28 strike on a leadership compound that also killed the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and senior commanders. The ministry had been run by an acting minister for about eight months. President Masoud Pezeshkian nominated Akhlaghi on October 5. [Iran International](https://www.iranintl.com/en/202610188034) and others report that he holds no military rank but has spent 42 years in the defence ministry, has run the Defence Industries Organisation, the state weapons maker, since 2013, and used to head the Aerospace Industries Organization. The US and the UN have both sanctioned him over his alleged role in the ballistic missile programme, the UN since 2007.

I think the choice is pretty revealing. In a lot of countries the defence minister is a politician whose job is to fight over the budget. Iran’s ministry is formally called the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics, and it just went to the man who ran the factory. After eight months of war, the hard problem is apparently no longer strategy. It is how many missiles you can build while someone keeps bombing the places where you build them. If that is the job, a 17-year-old UN sanctions designation doesn’t count against you. It is more like a reference from a previous employer.

![Three cream and red rockets ride a conveyor belt passing through a dark office chair against a teal background.](https://rews.cc/img/e023efb6da02888acb6b6f034af280e357d4c040.webp)

He also gave a speech. Before the vote, he told lawmakers that “If the American-Zionist enemy once again makes a miscalculation, the response of the Iranian nation and the fighters of Islam will be surprising and extensive,” and he [warned Washington](https://thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2026/10/18/iran-names-new-defence-minister-as-he-warns-us-over-mother-of-all-bombs) about a possible attack using the “Mother of All Bombs.”

That was the official line all day. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, posted on X that “Iran’s armed forces have prepared a response to any new act of adventurism that would be far more devastating than the 12-day and 40-day wars,” meaning Israel’s attacks in June 2025 and the war that started in February, [CNBC reported](https://cnbc.com/2026/10/18/iran-us-war-rezaei-operational-plan-shipping-attacks.html). He added, in a Google translation: “Iran’s new operational plan will not follow the rules with which they are familiar.” So the one thing we know about the plan is that you won’t recognise it. Which is fair enough. A war plan you could describe on X would be a pretty bad war plan.

Last week, in a Newsmax interview broadcast on Thursday, President Donald Trump was asked about reports that Washington was considering the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast, or MOAB. He said he doesn’t foresee sending ground troops into Iran and doesn’t intend to use nuclear weapons: “I wouldn’t use nuclear. We don’t have to. We’re the greatest nuclear power in the world.” Meanwhile IRNA quoted Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi as saying Iran would not surrender its sovereign rights under pressure but was still ready for dialogue. Analysts like the former defence secretary Mark Esper have been [predicting a long war](https://rews.cc/a/esper-sees-iran-war-dragging-past-2027-possibly-into-the-nex-c64e6b), and nothing on Sunday points the other way.

![A looping infinity-shaped black-and-cream chessboard ribbon holds a white knight on the left and a black knight on the right against a red background.](https://rews.cc/img/84902749ee20ae0478e7e80c779a20c9672a33bf.webp)

## The permission business

On Saturday the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that two oil tankers, each carrying about two million barrels of crude, [caught fire after hitting naval mines](https://aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/18/iran-says-two-tankers-catch-fire-after-hitting-mines-in-strait-of-hormuz) in the Strait of Hormuz. IRNA reported the IRGC’s description: the first suffered an explosion and a “fierce fire” and the second was engulfed “in a massive blaze.” According to the Guards, both ships were using an unauthorised route. Four million barrels at Friday’s Brent price comes to roughly $440 million of crude, though nobody has said how much of it was lost, if any. The claims have not been independently verified. When the IRGC made a similar claim a day earlier about a supertanker, [The National reported](https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/gulf/2026/10/13/strait-of-hormuz-attacks-surge-as-iran-steps-up-campaign-against-us-backed-oil-shipping/) that the shipping analyst Sal Mercogliano doubted the video showed a mine strike.

The phrase that matters is “unauthorised route.” Since the war began, Tehran has demanded that ships get its permission before they go through the strait, and [what it wants in exchange for reopening](https://rews.cc/a/iran-waits-for-america-s-answer-on-the-strait-of-hormuz-71eefe) has become a bargaining chip. A permit system needs something to happen to ships that don’t get a permit. A mine that only goes off for unauthorised ships is part of the argument. The US military has [rejected the idea](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/17/us-and-iran-both-claim-control-of-strait-of-hormuz-amid-attacks-on-vessels) that the IRGC controls the waterway, saying commercial vessels keep passing “despite unwarranted IRGC aggression.” So both sides claim control of the same strait, which mostly means neither of them fully has it.

![An oil tanker approaches a narrow waterway blocked by a red-and-white barrier attached to a large naval mine between two shores.](https://rews.cc/img/478074e80706aae1b0f8f5b136bcfadf553ddd45.webp)

The UK Maritime Trade Operations centre, which is linked to the Royal Navy, logged more incidents. On Sunday a tug heading south northeast of the UAE was hit by two unknown projectiles. On Saturday the master of an LNG tanker southwest of Yemen reported being approached by a skiff with seven people on board. The skiff fired twice, and the tanker’s security team fired two warning shots back. On Friday a tanker northeast of Saudi Arabia was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired from a small boat. UKMTO said at least 12 ships were attacked in the week to October 16, and it warned that it “is struggling to accurately report true number of attacks with majority of vessels attacked refusing to report.” If you own a tanker, reporting an attack doesn’t get you anything you can use. It does put your ship in the incident statistics that underwriters and charterers read, so it is not hard to see why many owners stay quiet.

The markets saw plenty anyway. On Friday Brent hit $110 a barrel during the session, its first time there since May, and settled at $109.86, up 3.7%. US West Texas Intermediate rose 3.5% to $101.41, after gaining more than 10% the week before, when Brent rose nearly 5%. Ukraine’s promise to keep hitting Russian refineries added to the pressure. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted several missiles over the Red Sea on Friday, one of them heading for the Yanbu oil export terminal, and destroyed three drones over Riyadh and its southern regions. The Houthis, Iran’s allies in Yemen, [fired at the kingdom repeatedly](https://rews.cc/a/yemen-accuses-houthis-of-turning-iranian-air-defences-into-c-9e2003) last week, and the Saudi energy ministry said one of Aramco’s administrative buildings in Dhahran was hit on Tuesday.

So Iran’s new defence minister takes over a war where the factory output and the shipping lane are now the same problem. The best data on that shipping lane comes from shipowners, and most of them aren’t reporting.

## Sources

- [Who is Mehrdad Akhlaghi, Iran’s new tech-focused defence minister?](https://aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/18/who-is-mehrdad-akhlagh-irans-new-tech-focused-defence-minister) — aljazeera.com
- [Iran says it has a 'new operational plan' if the U.S. resumes attacks](https://cnbc.com/2026/10/18/iran-us-war-rezaei-operational-plan-shipping-attacks.html) — cnbc.com
- [Iran says two tankers caught fire after hitting mines in Strait of Hormuz](https://aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/18/iran-says-two-tankers-catch-fire-after-hitting-mines-in-strait-of-hormuz) — aljazeera.com