Saeed Mohamed: The ideological backer of Khamenei

Noura Bendari

Presidential hopeful Saeed Mohammad came to the center of the political stage in Iran, soon after the assassination of Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in January 2020.

Mohammad curried favors with Iranian Supreme Guide Ali Khamenei, along with the Iranian people who have been suffering from deteriorating economic conditions in their country for several years now.

Who is he?

Mohammad was born in Iranian capital Tehran. He is 53 years old. He has a PhD in civil engineering. He is a representative of the fundamentalist current in the Iranian presidential elections.

He started working with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corpse at the age of 19. He was promoted to several positions inside the Revolutionary Guard, most important of which is that of the chairman of the Khatam‑al Anbiya Construction Headquarters, the largest trading institution affiliated to the Revolutionary Guard.

Mohammad worked as the head of Atlas Group, another affiliate of the Revolutionary Guard. He was also the commander of one of the most important Revolutionary Guard bases.

Like other senior officers of the Revolutionary Guard, Mohammad, who holds the rank of lieutenant general, was placed on the list of US sanctions in 2007, in his capacity as the head of the

Khatam‑al Anbiya Construction Headquarters. The company implements most infrastructure projects in Iran. It was established in 2018, following withdrawal by the US from the nuclear deal with Iran. It developed the projects of the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum, which were left behind by foreign companies.

Mohammad submitted his resignation in March this year to prepare for the presidential elections.