Turan Research Center

Iranian media announced on August 3 the creation of a new security body called the “Defense Council”. The new entity will operate under the auspices of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), which centralizes strategic military decision-making.

The announcement followed reports by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-affiliated Fars News of a significant structural overhaul within Iran’s security establishment.  According to these reports, the overhaul would include the establishment of the Defense Council as part of a new governance arrangement in the realm of defense and security. Fars suggested that the Defense Council would focus on “strategic missions of defense policy” without specifying exactly what that means.

The reshuffle occurred just a couple of days after August 1 when Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s top adviser, Ali Larijani, was appointed as the new secretary of the SNSC. The changes are a clear indication of Larijani’s growing power. By contrast, the Defense Council is formally headed by President Masoud Pezeshkian, the Council’s secretary has yet to be named. One should bear in mind that the president also chairs the SNSC, making the division of responsibilities even less clear.

The creation of the new security body underscores the limits of the Islamic Republic’s ability to reflect on itself and carry out genuine reforms to address its vulnerabilities. This is mainly because those vulnerabilities stem largely from the strength of informal networks within Iranian politics. It is equally important to understand that the regime’s main goal is not to fix military weaknesses or learn lessons but to preserve its survival by maintaining Khamenei’s rule. 

Read the full article on the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security.

Alex Grinberg is a Senior Fellow at the Turan Research Center.