Iranian
lawmakers overwhelmingly approved Mehrdad Akhlaqi Ketabchi, a 68-year-old
missile production expert, as defense minister on Sunday, replacing Aziz
Nasirzadeh who died in U.S.-Israeli strikes on February 28, 2026.
Ketabchi pledged to speed up domestic weapons like a fully indigenous heavy fighter jet next year, build factories inside mountains, and declared Iran ready for war. A senior IRGC adviser added that Iran reverse-engineered a failed 14-ton U.S. bomb from the 12-Day War, preparing countermeasures amid ongoing tensions.