Rear Admiral M Khaled Iqbal joined Bangladesh Navy in January 1981 and was graduated from Italian Naval Academy, Livorno in 1985 under the affiliation of the University of Pisa, Italy. He has undergone ‘UNCLOS III and Maritime Law Enforcement Course’ from Wollongong University, Australia in 1999. He is a distinguished graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, India in 1996-97 and a proud alumnus of the National Defence College, Delhi in 2013 when he received enriching experience within the international strategic community and senior civil and military leaders. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the National Maritime Foundation Delhi, an Associate Fellow of the Nautical Institute London and also a distinguished fellow of the Centre for Business and Economic Research (CBER) London.

Admiral Khaled closely worked with the MOD UK and Royal Navy several times for taking over warships for Bangladesh Navy, his achievements specially includes as the Project Director for the successful regeneration and homebound voyage of the Island class warships from Portsmouth in 2003 and Castle class warships from Newcastle upon Tyne in 2010.

He was the Chairman of Chittagong Port Authority in 2016-2018 when he focused on port led economic development, logistics & trade facilitation and capacity building to meet the ever growing market demands of Bangladesh. Rear Admiral Khaled assumed the duties of Vice-Chancellor of Bangladesh Maritime University since 2018. Under his Leadership, the University has transformed into a Maritime Centre of Excellence with quality maritime education and research. He retired from the government service in January 2023. After his retirement, the Admiral has passed several years in the corporate sector as the Chief Executive: Ports, Shipping & Economic Zone of the A K Khan & Company Ltd, a reputed conglomerate of Bangladesh.

Rear Admiral Khaled holds M Phil in Defence and Strategic Studies from the University of Madras, India. As a maritime expert, the Admiral intends to continue with his genuine passion for research and intellectual undertakings in the fields of blue economy, ocean governance, maritime law, maritime security, ports & logistics and other geo-strategic issues.