Dehghani served as a commander in the Iranian Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and in its air force. He left his hometown for Tehran and joined the IRGC shortly after the Iranian revolution in 1979. His posts at the IRGC include commander of IRGC of Tehran (1980-1982), Isfahan, and Syria and Lebanon (1982-1983), and general manager of the IRGC's Cooperatives Foundation (1996).