When Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, makes public appearances, there are often two individuals trailing close behind him: the white-turbaned Ayatollah Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani, head of the Office of the Supreme Leader, and the balding Vahid Haghanian, a towering, plump man partial to multipocketed raincoats. Haghanian’s official title is deputy for special affairs for the Office of the Supreme Leader.
Haghanian began appearing publicly with Khamenei after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s first electoral victory, in 2005, and without a doubt is one of Khamenei's closest advisers. Other than his having a military background, however, little is known about Haghanian, who is sometimes referred to as Commander Vahid or Mr. Vahid.
