Veteran Iranian politician Ali Larijani, who stated on Sunday a short lived management council can be arrange after an air strike killed Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reemerged final yr as probably the most highly effective figures within the safety hierarchy.
He has been managing a broad portfolio from nuclear negotiations to Tehran’s regional ties to its violent suppression of inner unrest.
An institution insider who hails from one of many nation’s main clerical households, Larijani had been overseeing Iran’s efforts to achieve a nuclear cope with the US – only a month after Washington sanctioned him in January for allegedly directing a lethal crackdown on anti-government protests.
He accused the US and Israel of making an attempt to plunder and disintegrate Iran and warned “secessionist teams” of a harsh response in the event that they tried any motion, state tv stated on Sunday, practically 24 hours after they started a wave of assaults on Iran.
Iran’s Armed Forces Chief of Employees Abdolrahim Mousavi was additionally killed in strikes, broadcaster Iran TV stated.
Appointed in August as Secretary of the Supreme Nationwide Safety Council (SNSC), Larijani has held senior jobs all through a profession marked by loyalty to Khamenei and a repute for pragmatic relations with the system’s often-rival factions.
His standing as a trusted Khamenei strategist was underlined final month by a visit to mediator Oman to organize for oblique nuclear talks with the US, as Washington constructed up its navy forces within the Center East to attempt to power concessions from Iran forward of the strikes.
Larijani had additionally made a number of journeys to key ally Moscow in latest months to debate a variety of safety ties, in an additional signal of his return to high-level diplomacy.
LARIJANI SEES NUCLEAR ISSUE AS ‘RESOLVABLE’
Larijani, who had an earlier stint heading the SNSC 20 years in the past, resumed his management following final yr’s 12-day air battle between Iran and Israel that was joined by the US, returning formally to the guts of Iran’s safety institution.
A few of his public statements on the nuclear concern struck a realistic tone.
“For my part, this concern is resolvable,” Larijani instructed Oman state tv final month, referring to the talks with the US. “If the Individuals’ concern is that Iran mustn’t transfer in direction of buying a nuclear weapon, that may be addressed.”
However within the wake of January’s outpouring of anti-government anger, his safety council position was denounced by Washington.
In line with a US authorities announcement detailing sanctions in opposition to him and different officers in response to the crackdown, Larijani was on the forefront of efforts to crush the collection of demonstrations that swept Iran in January.
“Larijani was one of many first Iranian leaders to name for violence in response to the official calls for of the Iranian individuals,” a US Treasury assertion stated on January 15, saying Larijani had acted at Khamenei’s behest.
Rights teams say 1000’s of individuals had been killed in a crackdown on the protests, the worst home unrest in Iran for the reason that period of its 1979 Islamic Revolution.
‘A PEARL FOR A CANDY BAR’
Like different Iranian officers, Larijani expressed understanding for demonstrations staged in protest at financial hardship. However he condemned armed actions he alleged had been fomented by Iran’s arch-enemy Israel.
“Common protests have to be utterly separated from these terrorist-similar teams,” state media experiences printed on January 10 quoted him as saying. “The rioters are an city quasi-terrorist group,” he was quoted as saying on January 26.
A former member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Larijani served as chief nuclear negotiator from 2005-2007, defending what Tehran says is its proper to counterpoint uranium. He as soon as likened European incentives to desert nuclear gasoline manufacturing to “exchanging a pearl for a sweet bar”.
Again then, Iranian analysts stated he sought to steer the West via diplomacy and was thought to be a pragmatist.
The US and Israel consider Iran aspires to construct a nuclear weapon that might threaten Israel’s existence. Iran says its nuclear program is only peaceable.
Larijani was parliament speaker from 2008 to 2020. Throughout that posting, Iran struck a nuclear cope with six world powers in 2015 after virtually two years of delicate negotiations. President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the hard-fought settlement throughout his first time period in 2018.
ENGAGING WITH PUTIN
Larijani has cautioned that Iran’s nuclear program “can by no means be destroyed”.
“As a result of after getting found a know-how, they can not take the invention away,” he instructed PBS Frontline in September 2025. “It is as if you’re the inventor of some machine, and the machine is stolen from you. You possibly can nonetheless make it once more.”
Larijani has made repeated visits to Moscow and met President Vladimir Putin, serving to Khamenei handle a key ally and world energy that acts as a counterweight to stress from Trump.
Larijani was additionally tasked with advancing negotiations with China which led to a 25-year cooperation settlement in 2021.
He ran unsuccessfully for president in 2005. He later sought to contest the 2021 and 2024 presidential elections however was barred each occasions by the Guardian Council, which cited points together with way of life requirements and household ties overseas.
Born in Najaf, Iraq, in 1958 to a number one Iranian clerical household, Larijani moved to Iran as a baby and went on to earn a philosophy PhD. A number of of his brothers have additionally held senior institution jobs together with within the judiciary and overseas ministry.
One in all Larijani’s daughters was dismissed in January from a medical educating place on the US Emory College following protests by Iranian-American activists angered by his position within the suppression of that month’s demonstrations.
