INTERNACIONAL
Who is Ahmad Vahidi? Iran’s new IRGC chief tied to global attacks and ‘Death to America’ ideology
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
As President Donald Trump’s deadline for Iran to decide whether to extend a two-week ceasefire between the countries approaches, attention is increasingly turning not to Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, but to a shadowy Revolutionary Guard commander with a long record of terror, repression and hardline ideology.
Ahmad Vahidi, recently elevated to the top of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the elite paramilitary force within Iran’s military, is emerging as one of the most powerful men in Iran and, according to analysts, one of the key figures likely deciding whether Tehran resumes fighting or continues talks.
«By any standard, Vahidi is considered a radical even within the regime’s hardline elite, and his rise is a warning that Tehran’s war machine now calls the shots,» Lisa Daftari, foreign policy analyst and journalist, told Fox News Digital.
«Putting someone with such a bloody and murderous record at the top of the Revolutionary Guard Corps confirms that the regime is not moderating under pressure. On the contrary,» Daftari added, «it is doubling down on men whose careers are built on hostage‑taking, assassinations, and domestic repression. By any standard, Vahidi is considered a radical even within the regime’s hardline elite, and his rise is a warning that Tehran’s war machine now calls the shots.»
TRUMP’S APOCALYPTIC IRAN WARNING RAISES STAKES FOR SWEEPING US STRIKE THREAT
Why it matters: Analysts say Vahidi’s rise could shape whether Iran moves toward peace or deeper conflict. For the U.S., that means heightened risks to troops, allies and global stability if a hardline figure with a history tied to terror networks is now helping call the shots in Iran.
Ahmad Vahidi, recently elevated to the top of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the elite paramilitary force within Iran’s military, is emerging as one of the most powerful men in Iran. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto)
Power increasingly concentrated outside formal institutions
Vahidi’s rise comes at a moment when Iran’s formal political institutions appear weaker than ever.
Experts describe the Islamic Republic today as a system in which informal networks and personal relationships matter more than official titles.
Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, described Iran as «a system of men, not laws, but one whose success rested on institutionalizing their power,» where decisions increasingly flow through Revolutionary Guard figures rather than the civilian government.
Beni Sabti, an Iran expert at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said Vahidi may now be even more influential than parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf or even Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei.
«In my view, he is more dominant right now, even if they are coordinated. This is not a time for internal competition,» Sabti said, adding that Vahidi is the only one who meets the new supreme leader face-to-face.
VANCE EN ROUTE TO PAKISTAN FOR HIGH-STAKES IRAN TALKS AS ‘FRAGILE’ CEASEFIRE TEETERS
Long before the world knew the name Qassem Soleimani, Vahidi was one of the men who helped build the infrastructure of Iran’s overseas terror operations. (Morteza Nikoubazl/Nur Photo)
He previously led the Quds Force before Qassem Soleimani
Long before the world knew the name Qassem Soleimani, the longtime commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force who was killed in a 2020 U.S. drone strike, Vahidi was one of the men who helped build the infrastructure of Iran’s overseas terror operations.
He served as commander of the Quds Force in the 1990s, before Soleimani took over the elite unit responsible for foreign operations, covert action and support for proxy groups.
Analysts say Vahidi played a central role in building Iran’s network of terrorist allies across the Middle East, particularly in Lebanon.
«Ahmad Vahidi is the embodiment of the Islamic Republic’s most militant wing,» Daftari told Fox News Digital. «As Qassem Soleimani’s predecessor at the Quds Force, he helped build Tehran’s terror infrastructure abroad.»
Sabti said Vahidi was part of the original generation of Iranian operatives who forged ties with militant groups in Lebanon before and after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Some accounts suggest he trained in camps linked to Palestinian and Lebanese factions in southern Lebanon, helping lay the foundation for Iran’s alliance with Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terror group, in Lebanon.
Vahidi has been linked by analysts and Western governments to some of the deadliest attacks carried out by Iranian-backed networks over the past four decades.
As the commander of the Quds Force from 1988 to 1998, he has been connected to the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing that killed 241 U.S. service members, the 1996 Khobar Towers attack in Saudi Arabia, and a 2008 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Yemen.
VANCE WARNS IRAN WILL ‘FIND OUT’ TRUMP IS ‘NOT ONE TO MESS AROUND’ IF CEASEFIRE DEAL FALLS APART
Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei receives protection from elite NOPO force following his father’s assassination in U.S.-Israel attack on Tehran compound Feb. 28. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto)
One of the world’s most wanted Iranian officials
Daftari noted that Vahidi «has been implicated by Argentine prosecutors in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA (Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.» Eighty-five people were killed in the bombing.
Argentine investigators and courts have also linked Vahidi to the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, although the Interpol red notice against him is specifically for his alleged role in the 1994 AMIA bombing.
In April, Argentina renewed attention on him after its President Javier Milei’s government designated the entire Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization and singled out Vahidi by name.
In announcing the move, the Argentine government said that red notices remained in place for several Iranian officials, «among them former Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi, who was recently appointed to lead the IRGC.»
Vahidi is under multiple layers of sanctions by both the United States and the European Union. The sanctions significantly restrict his ability to travel, move money or do business internationally.
Washington first sanctioned him in 2010 for links to Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. Vahidi was redesignated in 2022 for «being an official of the Government of Iran and being responsible for or complicit in, or responsible for ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, the commission of serious human rights abuses against persons in Iran or Iranian citizens or residents, or the family members of the foregoing, on or after June 12, 2009, regardless of whether such abuses occurred in Iran.»
He was redesignated by the United States in 2022 under Executive Order 13553 after Mahsa Amini’s death, when he served as interior minister and oversaw the regime’s response to nationwide protests.
Vahidi was sanctioned for orchestrating internet blackouts and directing Iran’s Law Enforcement Command, known as NAJA, during the crackdown, according to the U.S. Treasury.
The European Union first sanctioned him in 2008, and imposed parallel sanctions in 2022 over the use of live ammunition, arbitrary detention of protesters and journalists, and the violent suppression of demonstrations.
Human rights groups accused Iranian authorities of using live fire, mass arrests and torture against protesters, which resulted in more than 30,000 deaths.
Yigal Carmon, founder and president of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) warned, «Under his leadership, more such crimes are to be expected in the West against both Jews and non-Jews.»
PAKISTANI GENERAL SAYS IRAN DIPLOMACY STILL ‘ALIVE, DESPITE US BLOCKADE, FAILED TALKS
Iran’s Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi briefs the media on elections in Tehran, Iran, March 4, 2024. Argentina sought the arrest of Vahidi on April 23, 2024, over his alleged involvement in the deadly 1994 bombing of Buenos Aires Jewish community center. (Vahid Salemi/AP)
Analysts say he represents the regime’s most radical faction
Experts say Vahidi is not merely another hardliner, but one of the most extreme figures even within Iran’s already radical ruling elite.
Sabti is warning that Vahidi’s growing influence could make Tehran less likely to agree to a genuine ceasefire.
«He brings even more radicalization into the system and may not want to stop the war, because it serves the interests of the Revolutionary Guards to continue,» Sabti said.
One of the biggest concerns surrounding Vahidi is that even if Iran agrees to a ceasefire, he may see it only as an opportunity to regroup.
That concern has taken on new urgency as Trump’s deadline approaches.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Iranians react after a ceasefire announcement at the Enqelab square, in Tehran, on April 8, 2026. The United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire Tuesday barely an hour before U.S. President Donald Trump’s deadline to obliterate the rival country was set to expire, with Tehran to temporarily reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz. (AFP via Getty Images)
If Vahidi is indeed the man increasingly calling the shots in Iran, analysts say the key question is not whether Iran wants a ceasefire, but whether the Revolutionary Guard commander believes continued confrontation better serves his interests.
Carmon said, «Trusting him is a grave mistake. He belongs to the hard ‘DEATH TO AMERICA’ corps.»
Iran’s mission to the United Nations declined to comment.
war with iran, mojtaba khamenei, middle east foreign policy, ali khamenei, terrorism, iran
Si me preguntan, digo que soy más argentina que el Obelisco. Soy argentina, fuera del país me reconocen en la calle otros argentinos, yo los reconozco a ellos. Kolesnicov, me llamo. Patricia Kolesnicov: no es un apellido diaguita. Ni coya. Ni guaraní. Ni, bueno, español.
Hace un tiempo, con compañeros periodistas teníamos una regla: si aparecía en algún cable que venía del extranjero un apellido como el mío y un nombre en castellano, había que sospechar que ahí había un argentino. Acertamos varias veces.
Soy argentinísima y, en las fiestas, cocino pastrón con arroz turco. El pastrón es una delicia de los judíos de Europa del Este. El arroz turco es lo que acá conocemos como “pilav” y es oriental: porque soy argentina, judía y en parte de Europa del Este pero allá atrás hay también bisabuelos turcos. Se mezclaron en Buenos Aires, claro.
Dicho esto: por el pasillo llegan otros olores. Mi vecina, de familia italiana, nos mata con la salsa. Pero, ¿qué otros apellidos tiene detrás, cuántas historias? Si mi mezcla fueron judíos rusos y turcos, ¿cómo fue la de mi vecina?
Pienso apellidos argentinos: Pueyrredón, Menem, Quispe, Sato, Sturzenegger, Rossi, Tavares, O’Donnell, García, Kim, Kicillof, Mamani., Pien, Ndiaye. ¿Sigo? ¿Cuál es menos argentino? En este país, los apellidos tienen fecha de llegada: tarde o temprano, a nadie le llaman la atención.
Soy argentinísima y voy a lo de mi argentinísima amiga Sánchez que hace.. bagna cauda. En el supermercado chino de la otra cuadra me atiende una verdulera de Cochabamba -Bolivia- y mientras las dos compramos tomates, hablo con otro vecino, un joven coreano, que acaba de apoyar en el suelo su bolsa de carbón: habrá asado el día del partido, me dice. Y hay que prepararse. Frente al televisor, mi compañera de facultad de apellido francés insulta de una manera que hubiera puesto colorada a mi abuela. Y no en francés, justamente.
Entre aproximadamente 1870 y 1914 llegaron a la Argentina unos 5,9 millones de inmigrantes, de los cuales más de la mitad se radicó definitivamente. En el censo de 1914, casi el 30% de la población había nacido en el extranjero, una de las proporciones más altas del mundo. En la ciudad de Buenos Aires, los extranjeros rondaban el 50 %.
No fue casualidad todo esto: en el plan de Juan Bautista Alberdi, cuando se estaba imaginando el país en el siglo XIX, decía claro “Gobernar es poblar”. Él no pensaba, sin embargo, en poblar a mansalva, era selectivo: “Poblar es civilizar cuando se puebla con gente civilizada, es decir, con pobladores de la Europa civilizada . ( . . .) Pero poblar no es civilizar, sino embrutecer, cuando se puebla con chinos y con indios de Asia y con negros de África” . Por eso la Constitución nacional sigue teniendo, en su artículo 25, una directiva: favorecer la inmigración europea.
Mala suerte, Alberdi. Vinimos, de todos lados. Vinimos los pobres, los perseguidos, los que nadie quería, aquellos a quienes la Revolución Industrial había dejado sin trabajo, aquellos que escapamos de los pogroms, aquellos que huimos de la guerra, aquellos a quienes el ejército entró a buscarnos a casa, aquellos que buscábamos una vida mejor porque la que teníamos no estaba bien. Nadie se va a vivir a otro país si nada en la libertad, la seguridad y la abundancia., Nadie se va a otro lugar del mundo por pasear, nadie deja su casa, su forma de hablar, nadie se va a jugar de visitante por los lindos paisajes: ni en el siglo XIX ni ahora.
Ahora, digo, que vinieron tantos venezolanos, que endulzan el español rioplatense con su castellano, que hacen que las arepas -¿y los tequeños?- se empiecen a hacer un lugar en los menúes porteños. Sus apellidos suelen ser españoles: en las listas no se ven.
Durante el Mundial, se nos dijo “racistas”. Por favor: los negros que llegaron como esclavos -los trajeron aquellos europeos, ¿no?- perdieron sus apellidos, en general, y fueron bautizados como sus amos. Algunos fueron a la guerra de la Triple Alianza como soldados, algunos murieron en la fiebre amarilla porque vivían en los barrios pobres donde la epidemia pegó más fuerte. Spoiler: nadie sale rico de la esclavitud. ¿Dónde están? Las historias familiares -y las caras que nos cruzamos en las calles- muestran una historia que quedó escondida tras el relato de la argentina blanca: nos mezclamos, otra vez. Y, también la ola migratoria enorme, de Europa. No la Europa que quería Alberdi, pero la tez más o menos clara.
A principios de siglo llegaron también los japoneses. Y los caboverdianos. En los 70 y 80, chinos y coreanos. Más africanos vinieron desde los 90: de Senegal, de Ghana, de Nigeria. Sus apellidos todavía “se ven”, mientras que Messi, Menem, Mac Allister ya se perciben, simplemente, como argentinos. Algunos apellidos todavía nos llaman la atención. Otros dejaron de hacerlo. Quizá dentro de cincuenta años ocurra lo mismo con Kim o Ndiaye. Y, junto a los apellidos de quienes llegaron, siguen estando los de quienes nunca tuvieron que llegar: Quispe, Mamani, Catrileo. Porque la historia argentina no empezó con los barcos.
Basta recorrer una guía telefónica —o, hoy, un padrón electoral o una red social— para leer una historia de la Argentina. Los apellidos cuentan la conquista española, la supervivencia de pueblos originarios como los mapuches y los andinos, la gran inmigración italiana y española de fines del siglo XIX, la llegada de judíos, sirio-libaneses, armenios y galeses, las corrientes japonesas, coreanas y chinas del siglo XX y las migraciones africanas y latinoamericanas más recientes. Pero también cuentan silencios: los apellidos africanos que la esclavitud borró y muchos apellidos indígenas que fueron reemplazados por otros, castellanos. Más que un catálogo de orígenes, el mapa de los apellidos argentinos es una síntesis de cinco siglos de conquistas, migraciones, mezclas e integraciones.
Al final, “Kolesnicov”, no habla tanto sobre mí como sobre un camino que, también, es la historia del mundo. No se castellanizó, no hizo falta ni me obligaron. Si alguien me pregunta un nombre argentino, le doy este: Patricia Kolesnicov. Y sí, el pastrón queda espectacular con tapa de asado: la mezcla también es argentina.
Cabo Verde,Argentina,Mundial,festejo,fútbol,celebración,comunidad,deporte,aficionados,España
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
UNITED NATIONS — The Democratic Republic of Congo does not view growing American involvement in its critical-minerals industry as a contest with China, the country’s foreign minister told Fox News Digital, arguing that Kinshasa needs multiple partners to transform its vast natural wealth into prosperity for its people.
«I don’t like talking about competition. I like talking about complementarity,» Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner said in an exclusive interview at the United Nations.
CHINA’S GRIP ON RARE-EARTH MAGNETS COULD CRUSH US DRONE INDUSTRY BEFORE IT GROWS
U.S. President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance meet Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner and Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe (not pictured) in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington D.C., June 27, 2025. (Ken Cedeno/Reuters)
«A country as big as the USA, but also a country as big as the DRC and as big as China, they do not develop just with one single partner,» she added. «They develop with different partnerships that respond to different needs and that bring different expertise to the table.»
The comments come as the Trump administration seeks to increase American access to Congo’s copper, cobalt, lithium, gold and other strategic resources, while reducing U.S. reliance on mineral supply chains dominated by China.
A strategic partnership signed by Washington and Kinshasa on Dec. 4, 2025, calls for increased economic cooperation, investment and the development of secure and transparent critical-mineral supply chains. The agreement accompanied a broader regional framework linking economic integration to efforts to end decades of conflict between Congo and Rwanda.
TRUMP ADMIN BACKS BOLIVIA STATE OF EMERGENCY AS LEFTIST EX-LEADER’S LOYALISTS FRACTURE NATION
Excavators and drillers at work in an open pit at Tenke Fungurume, a copper and cobalt mine 110 km (68 miles) northwest of Lubumbashi in Congo’s copper-producing south, January 29, 2013. (REUTERS/Jonny Hogg/File Photo)
A separate arrangement involving DR Congo’s state mining company Gécamines and commodities trader Mercuria could give U.S. buyers priority access to some copper and cobalt supplies, Reuters reported on Dec. 5, 2025. The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation also expressed interest in taking a strategic stake in the partnership.
Kayikwamba Wagner said relations between the U.S. and DR Congo were taking «a more concrete shape» based on mutual economic interests.
She said Kinshasa welcomed «more U.S. interests in the DRC» that could help the country turn its mineral wealth into «tangible transformations for the lives of Congolese,» while also delivering benefits to American partners.
Speaking separately at a high-level U.N. meeting on critical minerals Tuesday, Kayikwamba Wagner warned that the global shift toward clean energy must not reproduce an economic model in which raw materials leave Africa while processing, technology and most of the profits remain elsewhere.
«The global energy transition must not become another extractive transition,» she said. «If it merely replaces one form of dependency with another, it will have fallen short of its promise.»
She called for foreign partnerships to support local processing, infrastructure, technology transfers, research, industrialization and access to financing — not simply secure supplies of raw materials.
CHILL COMING FROM TRUMP’S SUMMIT WITH XI IS PROOF OF A NEW COLD WAR WITH CHINA
M23 rebels stand with their weapons in Kibumba, in the eastern of Democratic Republic of Congo, Dec. 23, 2022. M23, a rebel group with alleged links to Rwanda, has seized Rubaya, a mining town in eastern Congo known for producing a key mineral used in smartphones, the group said Thursday, May 2, 2024, in a statement. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
The minerals push is closely connected to the U.S.-mediated peace process between the DRC and Rwanda. The countries initially signed a peace agreement in Washington on June 27, 2025, before Presidents Félix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame reaffirmed the deal and signed related economic agreements on Dec. 4. The framework was intended both to reduce fighting and attract Western investment to a region rich in cobalt, copper, tantalum and other minerals.
Kayikwamba Wagner acknowledged that the agreement had not ended the violence, but said Washington’s willingness to impose consequences for violations showed that the process remained meaningful.
«This is a 30-year conflict we’re dealing with,» she said. «It’s not going to happen overnight.»
She praised the administration for sanctioning the Rwanda Defense Force and senior Rwandan officials over what the Treasury Department described as their support for the M23 rebel group. Treasury said in March that the RDF had supported, trained and fought alongside M23 as it seized territory and strategic mining locations in eastern Congo. Rwanda has repeatedly denied supporting M23.
«I find it encouraging to see that we have with us a partner that is not willing to give up at the first obstacle,» Kayikwamba Wagner said.
She was in New York as the DRC, which holds the Security Council presidency for July, elevated the connection between natural resources, armed conflict and sexual violence.
Kayikwamba Wagner said rape and other forms of conflict-related sexual violence had risen sharply in areas held by M23 and Rwandan forces, affecting women and girls as well as men and boys.
Victims in occupied areas, she said, often lack access to courts, healthcare or other avenues for redress.
«This is also one of the reasons why we continue to be mobilized against this illegal occupation of eastern DRC,» she said, arguing that restoring state authority was essential to providing survivors with justice and medical care.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
President Donald Trump arrives for a signing ceremony with Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi at the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
In her U.N. remarks, she cited the Rubaya mining area, which is under M23 control and supplies a significant share of global tantalum demand. She said U.N. experts estimated that at least 1,400 tons of coltan were smuggled into Rwanda during the first year after the mines were seized, generating approximately $800,000 per month for the armed group.
The Treasury department imposed additional sanctions on June 25 against a network it accused of working with M23 to smuggle minerals from eastern Congo into Rwanda, saying the action was intended to support the Washington peace framework and improve transparency in regional mineral supply chains.
world, united nations, foreign affairs, geopolitics, emerging economies
INTERNACIONAL
Keir Starmer se despide en la previa del duelo ante Argentina: «Este es el final de mi trayectoria política»
«El final de mi trayectoria política»
El último «Question Time»
El reloj para el hijo de un relojero
Primer primer ministro laborista en 10 años
Su no a la guerra con Irán y a Trump
La Legión de Honor
Llega Andy Burnham como premier
Perdón, el argentino nace donde puede
Un festejo mundialista con susto en Gran Hermano: la reacción de los participantes tras el triunfo argentino
Karina Milei reunió a los legisladores porteños de LLA y pidió llegar con un candidato propio para 2027
Tras su critica a Argentina, Gary Neville pidió debatir si Messi superó a Pelé y Maradona: la burla a Cristiano Ronaldo
Bancarios cerraron un nuevo aumento salarial y llevaron el básico a casi $2.500.000
El Senado bonaerense logró sesionar por segunda vez en el año: cruce picante entre peronistas y un libertario
El álbum de las vacaciones soñadas de Darío Barassi con su familia: “Ibiza, nos vas enamorando”
El petróleo sube más de 3% tras la reanudación de los ataques de EEUU contra Irán y la amenaza de cierre del estrecho de Ormuz
Operativo Reelección 2027: Los 8 Cambios Urgentes que Javier Milei Debe Implementar para Asegurar su Continuidad
Mitch McConnell breaks silence on mystery hospitalization after Graham’s death
ECONOMIA3 días agoAumentó 900% la cantidad de repartidores de plataforma en los últimos 6 años
- DEPORTE14 horas ago
El machete del arquero inglés en una botella que sorprendió a Messi tras el triunfo: el dardo de un ayudante de Scaloni a Inglaterra
- INTERNACIONAL3 días ago
Detuvieron a un candidato opositor en el inicio de la campaña para las elecciones parlamentarias en Rusia
