Iran's Top Security Official Removed Due To Links With Ex-President Khatami

The removal of Iran’s top security official Ali Shamkhani came after he requested former President Mohammad Khatami to officiate his daughter’s wedding ceremony, says the UK-based Amwaj media.

One political insider on condition of anonymity told the website Monday that Shamkhani's political undoing was triggered after his daughter’s wedding.

“According to the source, Shamkhani’s daughter had implored him to extend a request for ex-president Khatami—a figure reviled by conservatives to the extent that his image is banned from state television—to officiate her nuptial ceremony.”

Despite serving as Khatami's defense minister, Shamkhani has increasingly moved to the right in the political spectrum since the nuclear deal negotiations in 2015.

In Iran, prominent politicians, especially clerics like Khatami, are often requested to officiate weddings by couples.

Initially hesitant, Shamkhani reluctantly consented to his daughter's request and called Khatami to invite him to preside over the ceremony, the source explained.

Khatami is said to have agreed to the request. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, he was prevented from attending the ceremony by the security services.

The political insider told Amwaj media that Khamenei was riled by this development and thus effectuated Shamkhani's removal as a result.

Iran's Security Chief Ali Shamkhani was replaced by Ali Akbar Ahmadian, an IRGC chief of the Joint Staff earlier this month.

Shamkhani served as the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) for almost a decade