Iran’s parliament has approved Mehrdad Akhlaghi as defence minister, filling the post left vacant after Aziz Nasirzadeh was killed in a US-Israeli attack on February 28.

State television said on Sunday that members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly gave Akhlaghi a vote of confidence to serve as minister of defence and armed forces logistics. The vote came nearly eight months after the initial US-Israeli strikes that sparked the conflict.

According to the government website, Akhlaghi received 237 votes in favour from 277 votes cast.

He succeeds Nasirzadeh, who was killed in an attack on a leadership compound alongside former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and senior military commanders, according to the information provided.

Before lawmakers voted, Akhlaghi said the ministry’s responsibilities would fall to him at a sensitive time if parliament approved his nomination, ISNA reported.

“Under such circumstances, defending the country requires an accurate understanding of the environment, an understanding of the logic behind developments, the identification of influential trends, and preparedness to face different possible futures,” he said.

Akhlaghi does not hold a military rank, but has spent 42 years working at the defence ministry. Since 2013, he has led the Iranian Defence Industries Organisation, the state weapons manufacturer.

The United Nations sanctioned Akhlaghi in 2007 over his alleged involvement in nuclear or ballistic missile activities.