Influential General Behind Iran's Military Strength Emerges for First Time

A powerful general who leads Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has emerged from hiding as Tehran prepares for the funeral of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday. Photographs published online by Iranian state media show General Ahmad Vahidi attending the funeral ceremony for Khamenei. He was seated next to the coffin as the theocratic government held a more limited ceremony for the leader on Thursday evening near Khamenei’s former home in central Tehran. Experts say Vahidi has been a key player in formulating Iran’s hardline stance in negotiating a possible permanent end to the war with the United States. He is believed to be part of a small group in direct contact with Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who remains in hiding after reportedly being wounded in an Israeli attack on 28 February. That attack killed Mojtaba’s father, the senior Khamenei. Vahidi himself had not been seen in public since 8 February, several weeks before the war began.