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.

Rarely, if ever, has Haghanian made comments to the media, which has increased the mystery surrounding the extent of his influence. Thus, when he attacked an official for politicizing earthquake relief efforts in the western part of the country, his comments lit up Iranian social media.

On Nov. 13, First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri said that the majority of the buildings destroyed throughout the Kermanshah region in the earthquake were part of the government-subsidized Mehr Housing Scheme, a major nationwide project to provide affordable housing initiated under Ahmadinejad. Jahangiri said that he had ordered officials to investigate why the newer Mehr buildings had collapsed. More than 500 people have been reported killed in the 7.3-magnitude earthquake that struck Nov. 13 in the Kermanshah region, along the Iran-Iraq border.