Who is Mehrdad Akhlaghi, Iran’s new tech-focused defence minister?

Akhlaghi’s experience centres on ballistic missiles, aerospace technology and defence-industrial production.Tehran, Iran – Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi has been appointed Iran’s defence minister at a time when the war with the United States is expected to escalate.The 68-year-old was approved on Sunday by parliament, which has convened online since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran on February 28, to assume leadership of the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics. In total, 237 lawmakers voted in favour of Akhlaghi’s appointment and 15 against.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Can Yemen’s government forces sustain their offensive against the Houthis?list 2 of 3US and Iran both claim control of Strait of Hormuz amid attacks on vesselslist 3 of 3Why Iran-US negotiations keep failingend of listFormer Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh was killed along with a large number of other senior figures, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, on the opening day of the war.The position was filled temporarily by Majid Ebn-e Reza, who will now become Akhlaghi’s deputy.Akhlaghi will be responsible for rebuilding and expanding Iran’s military-industrial infrastructure, which has...