M. Shaheen Iqbal

Mohammad Shaheen Iqbal is a retired four star admiral of the Bangladesh Navy who served as chief of the naval staff till 24 July 2023.

Early life and education

Iqbal was born in Comilla of then East Pakistan to a Bengali Muslim military family. He finished his secondary and high school from BAF Shaheen College Dhaka. Iqbal was enlisted to Bangladesh Naval Academy in 1980 and was commissioned in executive branch as a torpedo anti-submarine coordinating officer in 1982. He is a graduate of Defence Services Command and Staff College, Armed Forces war college, and the National Defence College. Iqbal also attended the operational planning domain course from Naval War College at Newport, United States.

Military career

Iqbal commanded three warships, one offshore missile vessel and one large patrol craft and one minesweeper vessel. He was also commander of two naval areas, one naval base and furthermore the director of School of Maritime Warfare and Tactics, National Security Intelligence and the SWADS. At naval headquarters Iqbal was in charge of naval intelligence, naval operations and was the assistant chief of naval staff for personnel and then operations. He was ameliorated to vice admiral on July 2020 and appointed the chief of naval staff. Same year he was promoted to admiral in September. Iqbal went into retirement on 24 July 2023 and was succeeded by admiral Mohammad Nazmul Hassan.