The man who returned from the shadows: Hossein Taeb to be the eyes and ears of Mojtaba Khamenei
Hossein Taeb, known for his ruthless security tactics in Iran, is returning as commander of the Basij. The appointment, backed by Mojtaba Khamenei, aims to tighten social control and suppress internal dissent amidst economic instability.
Hossein Taeb, the senior Iranian official who was ousted four years ago after building a reputation as a ruthless figure in the Islamic Republic's security apparatus, is returning to the top in Tehran. After a long period out of the public eye, he will return to his previous role as commander of the Basij.
At a time when Iran faces severe economic sanctions—which have historically triggered widespread uprisings—Taeb has been tasked with "strengthening the popular information network" and utilizing "new technologies for popular resistance" to turn "every Iranian into a Basij member." Diplomats and analysts view this as a mandate to turn the organization into the eyes and ears of Mojtaba Khamenei on the streets. These tasks were outlined in the appointment letter for the 63-year-old Taeb earlier this month. The decree places him in a small circle of loyalists to the new Supreme Leader, making him a central decision-maker in a country shaken by unprecedented protests and an ongoing war.
"Taeb is now at the head of the system he helped create," Mohammad Hossein Turkman, a former Revolutionary Guards member living in exile, told Bloomberg. "His most important role is to prevent and suppress internal resistance." This mission is critical for the regime as US President Donald Trump shifts from strike threats to massive economic pressure, exacerbating the collapse of the Iranian currency and fuel shortages.
Paranoia and Protest
Born in Tehran in 1963, Taeb trained as a cleric and joined the Revolutionary Guards in the early 80s. During the Iran-Iraq war, he fought alongside the younger Khamenei. Later, he moved into counter-intelligence, and by the late 90s, he was coordinating internal security issues directly with Mojtaba Khamenei. This experience prepared him to lead the Basij during the 2009 "Green Movement" protests, which resulted in dozens of deaths and US sanctions against him for human rights violations.
"When we hand over crisis management to people like Taeb, who know clubs better than thought or logic, this is the result," MP Ali Motahari wrote in 2009. Following that movement, Taeb was appointed head of the Intelligence Organization of the Revolutionary Guards, a spy service reporting directly to the Supreme Leader. His 13-year tenure included the arrest of dual citizens and the targeting of regime opponents abroad, but a series of security breaches attributed to Israel led to his ouster in 2022.
Failure and Ouster
In June 2022, shortly before a visit to Turkey by then-Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, Turkish intelligence thwarted an Iranian terror plot targeting Israeli diplomats and tourists. Tehran officially announced Taeb's ouster shortly after. Israeli intelligence officials had identified Taeb as the mastermind, describing him as a "wounded and frantic animal" attempting to secure his status within the Iranian establishment at any cost.
In June 2025, several official Iranian media outlets, including IRNA and ISNA, reported that Taeb had been killed. The reports were removed minutes later. The news was published even though Taeb had appeared in a television interview hours earlier. ISNA later apologized for the "human error" caused by a heavy workload.
