Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar

At the same time, Najjar responded to the increased activity of the Sunni opposition (Jundallah) with a security clampdown on Iran's eastern borders. During his tenure, Najjar had to grapple with the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists and said (July 2011) that "this issue is our top priority" and that his Ministry had implemented a special program to guard nuclear scientists."

The tough and violent approach taken by Najjar during the repression of the protests after the 2009 elections put him and other senior Iranian officials on the U.S. designation for serious human rights abuses involving Iran. The Fact Sheet issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury stated the following about Najjar:

Mostafa Mohammad Najjar was appointed the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces in charge of Police Forces in order to "ensure order and security" in November 2009. He was in charge of the government response to protests on Ashura, one of the holiest days in Shia Islam, which in 2009 coincided with December 27, 2009. State media reported 37 dead and hundreds arrested. He is currently the Minister of Interior and, as such, has authority over all police forces, Interior Ministry security agents, and plainclothes agents.

According to Najjar (October 2007), "Iranian missiles are not a threat to any country, and they will only fall on the heads of those who attack Iranian territory." In response to the test of the long-range surface-to-surface Sajil missile, Najjar said it was designed "…for deterrence and to safeguard the stability of the region." Throughout his tenure, Najjar has focused on Iran's military-technological independence and on ensuring the country would not be dependent on the supply of weapons systems from other countries. This was emphasized in his statement upon handing over the reigns of his position to his successor (September 2009):

Najjar was posted to the Parliament and ministry of defense by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in August 2005. He received 191 to 62 of votes and became minister on 9 August 2005. He was minister until August 2009, when Ahmadinejad was reelected and appointed Mohammad-Najjar as minister of interior. He received 178 to 72 of votes and became minister to succeed Sadegh Mahsouli.

He was also active for military service in Kurdistan from 1980 to 1985 in the Iran–Iraq War and was appointed head of Saad by Yahya Rahim Safavi in 1995.

Najjar joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) when the body was established in 1979, where he was in charge of the Middle East Department, with Israel, Lebanon and the Persian Gulf as places of particular attention. As an IRGC commander, he served in Lebanon.

Mostafa Mohammad Najjar (Persian: مصطفى محمدنجّار ‎, born 2 December 1956) is an Iranian politician and retired IRGC general. He was interior minister of Iran from 2009 to 2013 and minister of defense in the first cabinet of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from 2005 to 2009. He is also a veteran of the IRGC.

Najjar was born on 2 December 1956 in Tehran, ethnicity Azerbaijani, from Bostanabad. He graduated from K. N. Toosi University of Technology in 1977 and holds a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from Khajeh Nasir Toosi University of Technology (1984) and a master's degree in strategic management from the University of Industrial Management (2004).