Hossein Alaei () is an Iranian retired military officer who was the CEO of

Iran Aseman Airlines Iran Aseman Airlines () is an Iranian airline, the third-largest in the country, headquartered in Tehran. It operates scheduled domestic passenger services and regional international services. History The airline was established and started o ...

from 2013 to 2018. During his military career, Alaei was among senior

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is a multi-service primary branch of the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces, Iranian Armed Forces. It was officially established by Ruhollah Khom ...

commanders, having been its commander in two northwestern provinces, Karbala HQ,

maritime forces Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Princ ...

and the

joint staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, which advises the president of the United States, the United States Secretary of Defense, secretary of defense, ...

. He was also defense minister's deputy in the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2013, Alaei was

Hassan Rouhani Hassan Rouhani (; born Hassan Fereydoun, 12 November 1948) is an Iranian peoples, Iranian politician who served as the seventh president of Iran from 2013 to 2021. He is also a sharia lawyer ("Wakil"), academic, former diplomat and Islamic cl ...

's first choice for minister of defense, however he was reportedly rejected by the Supreme Leader

Ali Khamenei Ali Hosseini Khamenei (; born 19 April 1939) is an Iranian cleric and politician who has served as the second supreme leader of Iran since 1989. He previously served as the third President of Iran, president from 1981 to 1989. Khamenei's tenure ...

Controversy

In January 2012, Alaei wrote an op-ed for the newspaper ''

Ettela'at ''Ettela'at'' () is a Persian-language daily newspaper of record published in Tehran, Iran. It is among the oldest publications in the country, and the oldest running Persian daily newspaper in the world. The paper has a conservative stance, a ...

'' that sparked controversy. He implicitly compared

to the late

Shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...

, posing hypothetical questions that the Shah could have asked himself. He then finished with a verse from

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

: "Thus, learn your lesson you who have eyes." Following harsh criticism coming from the establishment, he said his article had been misinterpreted.

References

Living people Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps brigadier generals Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel of the Iran–Iraq War Year of birth missing (living people) People from Markazi province {{Iran-mil-bio-stub