Aziz Nasirzadeh (; born 1965) is an Iranian military officer and the Iranian Minister of Defense since August 2024. He was Deputy of Chief of Staff for the

Iranian Armed Forces The Iranian Armed Forces, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces, are the combined military forces of Iran, comprising the Islamic Republic of Iran Army (''Artesh''), the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (''Sepah'') and the Polic ...

from September 2021 to 2024, and the

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

of the Iranian Air Force (IRIAF) from August 2018 to September 2021. A veteran of the Iran-Iraq War, he graduated as a certified

F-14 The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic aircraft, supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, Tandem#Aviation, tandem two-seat, twin-tail, all-weather-capable variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for t ...

pilot, but never saw any combat. Following

June 2025 Israeli strikes on Iran June is the sixth and current month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars—the latter the most widely used calendar in the world. Its length is 30 days. June succeeds May and precedes July. This month marks the start of summe ...

, several opposition and foreign media outlets claimed that Nasirzadeh had been assassinated in the attacks targeting the Iranian Ministry of Defence headquarters in Tehran. However, pro-government journalist Dara Nassari said that "Amir Nasirzadeh is in full health and continues to serve the honorable people of Iran."

Military career

Nasirzadeh began his military career as an

Tomcat fighter pilot at the end of the Iran-Iraq War, though he never saw any combat. Over the years, he served in key positions in the

Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF; ) is the air force, aviation branch of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army. The present air force was created when the Imperial Iranian Air Force was renamed in 1979 following the Iranian Revoluti ...

such as chief of staff and acting commander before his appointment as full

in 2018 to 2021. From September 2021 to 2024 Nasirzadeh was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff of the

Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran The Iranian Armed Forces, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces, are the combined military forces of Iran, comprising the Islamic Republic of Iran Army (''Artesh''), the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (''Sepah'') and the Polic ...

, a position that reflects significant strategic responsibility across Iran’s entire military establishment. In August 2024 he was appointed the Iranian Minister of Defense. Nasirzadeh is involved in national-level security planning, including chairing Iran’s National Organization for Passive Defense, responsible for safeguarding Iran’s critical civilian, military, and nuclear infrastructure from potential U.S. or Israeli strikes. His international security engagements include defense cooperation with

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

and joint military exercises with

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

, aimed at countering Israeli, Turkish, and Western influence in the

South Caucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...

. Following

Views

Israel

Nasirzadeh supports the ideology of "Resistance", stating it is a deep-rooted belief system rather than a mere tactic. In 2024, he said that “Resistance will defeat Israel as it did in 2006”. In a public statement, he warned that “any malicious action by the

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

regime will result in its own destruction”, assuring that Iran is prepared to face any scenario. In August 2023, he said "Our current and next generations are impatiently and wholeheartedly waiting to fight the Zionist regime and wipe it off the Earth".

United States

In June 2025, referring to a possible failure in the

2025 United States–Iran negotiations On April 12, 2025, the United States and Iran started a series of negotiations aimed at reaching a nuclear peace agreement, following a letter from President Donald Trump to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The letter set a two-month (60 day) dead ...

, Nasirzadeh stated, "If a conflict is imposed on us... all US bases are within our reach, and we will boldly target them in host countries."

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nasirzadeh, Aziz Living people Islamic Republic of Iran Army brigadier generals Commanders of Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force Islamic Republic of Iran Army personnel of the Iran–Iraq War 1965 births People from Sarab, East Azerbaijan