TEHRAN, Oct. 18 -- Mehrdad Akhlaqi Ketabchi told Iran's lawmakers on Sunday that he has been on his enemies' "assassination list" for 35 years. They then made him the country's defense minister.

Parliament approved him by 237 votes to 15, with no abstentions, out of 277 votes cast in a session held by video conference, Anadolu Agency reported, citing state broadcaster IRIB. Iran International gave the same figures, which as reported do not sum to 277. He replaces Aziz Nasirzadeh, who was killed in the initial US-Israeli attacks on Iran on Feb. 28. Majid Ebn al-Reza had been acting minister since.

Before the vote, Akhlaqi warned that if the United States and Israel attacked again, Iran's response would be "surprising and extensive," and ...