TEHRAN, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Ali Shamkhani, senior advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has been appointed as Secretary of the country's newly-formed Defense Council, the semi-official Fars news agency reported Thursday.
The appointment was made in a decree issued by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Fars reported.
Shamkhani had previously been appointed by Khamenei as his representative in the council. He served as Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council from 2013 to 2023.
Also an incumbent member of Iran's Expediency Discernment Council, Shamkhani was severely injured in an Israeli airstrike targeting his house in the Iranian capital Tehran in June last year during the 12-day war between Iran and Israel.
Presided over by Iran's president, the Defense Council was established in August 2025 following the 12-day war to review the country's defense plans and the improvement of the Iranian armed forces' capabilities in a centralized manner.
The council comprises the heads of the Iranian government's executive, judiciary and legislative branches, as well as the armed forces' commanders and certain ministries. ■
