Iran has replaced Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr with veteran Revolutionary Guards commander Mohsen Rezaei as secretary of its Supreme National Security Council, just as talks over reopening the Strait of Hormuz reach their final stage. Iran and Oman have reportedly finalized shipping-route coordinates through the waterway, while US forces keep enforcing a naval blockade that has redirected 55 vessels since mid-July.
Iran replaced the secretary of its Supreme National Security Council on Sunday, elevating Mohsen Rezaei just as talks over reopening the Strait of Hormuz enter their final stage. Iranian state media reported that Rezaei, who also advises Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, took over from Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who moves instead into a role as political adviser to the supreme leader.
Zolghadr's tenure was short. He took over as SNSC secretary on March 24, 2026, and was removed on August 9, barely five months into the job. He had been appointed after predecessor Ali Larijani was killed in an air strike in March.
Rezaei succeeds Zolghadr as security chief
Rezaei and Zolghadr are both hardliners who previously commanded the Revolutionary Guards, the force that has grown more powerful since the US and Israel went to war with Iran in February. Rezaei led the Guards during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s and became a military adviser to Mojtaba Khamenei after Ali Khamenei, his father, was killed in the first US-Israeli strikes in late February.
Any deal to open the strait must be approved by the security council and Khamenei.
Iran and Oman near a shipping deal
Iran and Oman have reportedly finalized geographic coordinates for shipping routes through the strait and are said to be close to a draft joint statement on traffic protocols. Still, Zolghadr said Saturday that Tehran will only agree to open the waterway if the US withdraws forces from the vicinity, pays compensation for war damage and lifts sanctions.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who chairs the security council, pushed for a deal on Saturday. According to the Financial Times, Pezeshkian said: "We cannot fight forever. It has to be brought to an end at some point."
US Navy blockade intensifies
The diplomacy unfolds alongside an active US naval operation around a waterway that serves as the chokepoint for a significant share of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas shipments. As of August 9, US Central Command said it had redirected 55 commercial vessels, disabled two and boarded two others since enforcement resumed on July 14. More than 20 US warships, including the USS Ross, are deployed across the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman to run the operation.
Its pace has quickened sharply: CENTCOM had reported 12 redirections on July 25, a figure that more than quadrupled by August 9. A prior blockade phase, which ran from April 13 to June 18, had redirected more than 140 vessels and disabled nine.
Khamenei has not been seen or heard in public since the war.
Sources: Financial Times, Crypto Briefing, Crypto Briefing
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