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Who is Hossein Dehghan, Hassan Rouhani’s choice for defense minister

NCRI – Hossein Dehghan, Hassan Rouhani’s choice for defense minister, has been among “students followers of the Imam [Khomeini]” who took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979 and took 52 American diplomats hostage. He has been also a founder of Hezbollah of Lebanon.

Shakhsiatnegar Website wrote on Dehghan’s role in the hostage taking: “He was among ‘Students following the link of the Imam’ and conquerors of the spy den.” However, in the official biography offered by the General Directorate of Defense Propaganda for Ministry of Defense and Support of the Armed Forces no mention has been made of this background after Dehghan’s candidacy for assuming the post of Defense Minister.

Dehghan, born in 1957 in the town of Shahreza in central Iran, joined the Revolutionary Guards at its inception and until 1982 was commander of Tehran’s corps and during this period played an active role in suppression of the opposition. He was then appointed commander of IRGC in Syria. Following return of regime’s forces from Syria, he established an IRGC training base near the Lebanese border and trained Lebanese mercenaries of the regime. After a while he entered Lebanon and established Abolfazl al-Abbas Base in Nabi Nabi-Shit region in the Bekka Valley and organized Hezbollah forces there.

According to regime’s websites, for many years he has kept close relations with leaders of Hezbollah, including Seyyed Abbas Moussavi (former leader of Hezbollah killed in 1992) and Seyyed Hassan Nasrollah (current Hezbollah leader) and has still kept his connections with Hassan Nasrollah. Hezbollah has published some of Dehghan’s pictures with Seyyed Abbas Moussavi in Lebanon during those years.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
August 12, 2013