Mohsen Rezaei Once Wanted to Save Iran’s Economy by Taking Americans Hostage. He’s Now in Charge of Iran’s Security

For years, Mohsen Rezaei attempted to reach the highest halls of executive power in the Islamic Republic via the ballot box. He ran for president several times, withdrew once before voting, and failed to secure sufficient votes whenever he stayed in the race. However, the closing of the doors to Pastour never meant the closure of other corridors of power to the former Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). From the Expediency Discernment Council to various councils and appointed positions, a seat was always found for “Haj Mohsen.” Now, the third Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic has dispatched him as his representative to the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), a position that, if completed by presidential decree appointing him as Council Secretary, will place Rezaei in the highest executive position of his political career during wartime. The man whom voters repeatedly refused to entrust with the key to the executive branch may finally reach one of the country’s most sensitive decision-making chambers without needing their votes.

The Forever-Victorious Commander Whose Victory Cry Has Yet to Sound

Mohsen Rezaei, commander of the IRGC during the Iran-Iraq War, donned his IRGC uniform and spoke from that authority whenever deemed necessary. Having served as Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC from 1981 through most of the Iran-Iraq War at the highest level of military command, he returned to the IRGC in 2015 to “formulate macro-economic policies for the country,” a background that one would expect to be backed by more than just the bravado of a television pundit.

Over the years, however, Rezaei occupied himself primarily with making unusual remarks and expressing hopes for the “destruction of Israel.” In 2016, regarding Ahmad Motevasselian, the IRGC commander who disappeared in Lebanon in 1982, Rezaei expressed hope that he would “return as soon as possible” and “join us 25 years from now at the celebration of Israel’s destruction.” Thus, Haj Mohsen was not only hopeful about Motevasselian’s fate, but also had a plan for him 25 years later: a specific ceremony, a specific occasion, and apparently a pre-determined guest list.

The story grew more curious when, just days earlier during a meeting with Motevasselian’s mother, Rezaei inscribed a copy of the Quran presented to her by referring to her son as a “noble martyr.” Thus, in Haj Mohsen’s military worldview, Motevasselian could simultaneously be a martyr, return alive, and attend a celebration 25 years into the future. The only detail apparently left unconfirmed was the start time of the event.

In subsequent years, Rezaei moved from planning celebrations into a more operational phase. Following the killing of Qasem Soleimani and Donald Trump’s threat to strike 52 targets in Iran, Rezaei declared that if the United States engaged in military action, “we will level Haifa and key Israeli centers to the ground.” It later emerged he was not even waiting for a U.S. attack; in an interview, he stated: “We were actually looking for an excuse so that if they bombed Iran, we would strike Israel,” adding, “Have no doubt that we would have leveled Tel Aviv to the ground.” Furthermore, in November 2023, he proposed that Islamic governments form an “Islamic Army” to confront the U.S. and Israel, a plan he described at the time as “completely achievable.”

Under Haj Mohsen’s defense doctrine, Israel functions as a retaliatory proxy for U.S. actions: the U.S. strikes, and Israel pays the price.

The latest chapter in Rezaei’s military memoirs required no mention of Tel Aviv at all. In May 2026, he claimed that one of three U.S. warships entering the Strait of Hormuz from Oman was damaged by Iranian missiles, but that the U.S. was “keeping quiet about it.” Rezaei offered no evidence or verifiable details to substantiate the claim.

In Mohsen Rezaei’s military universe, Motevasselian is both a martyr and set to return; Tel Aviv remains standing yet has been repeatedly leveled to the ground; a U.S. warship has been damaged without anyone mentioning it; and the celebration of Israel’s destruction remains scheduled on the calendar for 25 years after 2016.

Under such a doctrine, perhaps the only thing truly destroyed is the need to provide evidence.

A 19/20 GPA Economic Rescue Plan: One Billion Dollars Per American Prisoner

Mohsen Rezaei does not merely comment on the economy; he holds a PhD in economics. Naturally, he prefers that no one forgets this fact. Once, while explaining his plan to strengthen the rial, he emphasized: “My expertise is a PhD in economics,” noting that his dissertation focused on money and credit, earned with a GPA of “nineteen-point-something” out of 20.

To solve Iran’s complex economic troubles, however, this doctor of economics avoided tedious concepts like GDP, investment, productivity, liquidity control, or curbing inflation. In 2015, Dr. Rezaei presented a solution for one of Iran’s most intricate economic crises: “If the U.S. attacks Iran, we will capture at least a thousand Americans in the first week” and demand “several billion dollars” to release each one. He concluded: “Then, our economic problems might be solved.”

In short, discussions surrounding foreign investment, economic growth, productivity, non-oil exports, and banking reform were rendered redundant. All that was required was a U.S. invasion.

Rezaei did offer more conventional proposals as well. He once promised to elevate the national currency so that the rial’s purchasing power would stand second only to the U.S. dollar and the euro in the region. To ensure no one assumed this was idle chatter, he again reminded his audience of his economics PhD, his dissertation on money and credit, and his 19-plus GPA.

Remarkably, the “take hostages, save the economy” theory was not removed from Dr. Rezaei’s curriculum over the subsequent eleven years. In April 2026, during the 40-Day War, he reiterated that if American forces set foot on Iranian soil, “that would be great for us,” predicting Iran would capture thousands of prisoners. This time, the service fee was explicit: “We will take one billion dollars for each prisoner.”

In Mohsen Rezaei’s economic framework, the rial is destined to become the third most powerful currency in the region behind the dollar and the euro; a U.S. ground invasion serves as a foreign currency revenue stream rather than a national crisis; an American soldier is valued at $1 billion; and economic salvation requires no foreign investment, production growth, or banking reform  merely an adequate supply of Americans to capture.

The Eternal Candidate: From 450,000-Toman Checks to the $50,000 Iranian

If Iranian presidential elections were a television series, Mohsen Rezaei would be the recurring character brought back by writers every few seasons. He ran in 2005 before withdrawing before the vote; he ran again in 2009, 2013, and 2021, giving the electorate multiple formal opportunities to vote against him.

Yet repeated defeats never dampened Major General Rezaei’s confidence when making campaign promises. Before the 2021 election, he claimed that once the economy and national production “get moving,” no Iranian’s per capita income would fall below $50,000.

In that same election, Rezaei promised a monthly subsidy of 450,000 Tomans to 40 million Iranians, going so far as to physically unveil a sample “check” on television.

The campaign shopping list continued: housewives were to receive formal jobs and salaries, affordable housing was to be constructed, and the 450,000-Toman subsidies were to be distributed under his “Iran Without Poverty” initiative. In the 2013 election, he proposed a “Green Subsidy” for farmers as though the primary flaw of prior welfare programs had been an improper color scheme.

When he eventually entered government without winning an election, serving as Ebrahim Raisi’s Vice President for Economic Affairs, he gained an opportunity to put his promises to the test. In December 2021, he announced a new scheme allowing a family of four to receive 800,000 Tomans in goods and cash.

Years later, the reservoir of ideas remained unexhausted. In July 2025, Rezaei announced a “million-dollar idea”: converting Donald Trump’s personality profile into a children’s game, a game he described as “very hilarious.” Given Haj Mohsen’s track record of campaign promises, the most unusual detail was his upfront warning that the idea was intended to be funny.

In Mohsen Rezaei’s electoral universe, citizens earn $50,000, housewives receive official salaries, 40 million people hold subsidy checks, farmers enjoy green subsidies, and Donald Trump becomes a children’s game. Only one minor detail failed to follow the plan: the election of Mohsen Rezaei to the presidency.

Now, following electoral defeats, billion-dollar promises, and victories that occasionally existed solely within his own narrative, Mohsen Rezaei has once again reached one of the most sensitive centers of power in the Islamic Republic. This time, Haj Mohsen may have finally found a formula that works: to achieve high office, simply remove the election from the equation.