Newly appointed Iranian Defence Minister Mehrdad Akhlaghi threatened on Sunday (October 18, 2026) to inflict “enormous damage” on the United States and its allies in West Asia if Washington resumes its military campaign against the country.
“If they (the US) do, they themselves and the region will suffer enormous damage. Mr Although he does not hold a military rank. Akhlaghi has worked in the defence ministry for 42 years and has headed the Iranian Defence Industries Organisation, the state’s weapons manufacturer, since 2013.
“People can rest assured that they will most likely not dare to attack us,” Mr. Akhlaghi told reporters shortly after securing parliament’s vote of confidence. “Members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (parliament) today gave a vote of confidence to Mehrdad Akhlaghi, the nominee for minister of defence and armed forces logistics,” state television reported, nearly eight months after the initial U.S.-Israeli strikes that sparked the conflict. Mr, according to the government website. Akhlaghi “was elected to the post with 237 votes in favour”, out of a total of 277 votes cast. “If I receive parliament’s vote of confidence, responsibility for the Ministry of Defence will fall to me at a sensitive juncture,” Mr. Akhlaghi said before the vote, according to the ISNA news agency.
Iranian lawmakers had earlier approved his appointment as the country’s new Defence Minister, after his predecessor was killed on the first day of the war with the United States.
