Ahmad Vahidi

Sardar Ahmad Vahidi
Ahmad Vahidi in 2004
Minister of Defense
In office 3 September 2009 – 15 August 2013
President	Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Preceded by	Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar
Succeeded by	Hossein Dehghan
Personal details
Born	(1958-06-27) 27 June 1958 (age 58) Shiraz, Iran
Nationality	Iranian
Religion	Shia Islam
Military service
Allegiance	Iran
Service/branch	Revolutionary Guards
Years of service	1979–present
Rank	Brigadier General
Commands	Quds Force

Ahmad Vahidi (Persian: احمد وحیدی‎‎, born 27 June 1958) is an Iranian military commander of the Revolutionary Guards. In 1988, he was appointed as the commander of its extraterritorial special forces, Quds Force. He was the minister of defense under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, having held the post from 3 September 2009 until 15 August 2013. Vahidi is president of the Supreme National Defense University since August 2016.

Vahidi was born on 27 June 1958 in Shiraz. His real name is Ahmad Shah Cheraghi (his nickname is Vahid). He holds a bachelor's degree in electronics and a master's degree in industrial engineering. He received a PhD in strategic studies from Imam Sadegh University.

Vahidi joined Revolutionary Guards in 1979. He was made deputy to the then Revolutionary Guards commander Mohsen Rezai for intelligence affairs in 1981. The same year he was also named commander of the Balaal base. In 1983, he joined the Quds Force, a unit of the Revolutionary Guards that is responsible for operations outside of Iran. He holds the rank of brigadier general.

Vahidi was appointed deputy minister of defense in 2005 when Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar became minister of defense. He was in office until 2009. In August 2009, he was appointed minister of defense by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and on 3 September 2009, the Majlis endorsed Vahidi as minister of defense with vote of 227 of 286. He received 79.3% of the votes of the members of the parliament. Vahidi's term ended on 15 August 2013 and Hossein Dehghan replaced him in the post.