Ali Larijani: Iran's diplomatic face who was considered close to powerful circles

 

Ali Larijani: Iran's diplomatic face who was considered close to powerful circles

 

Iran's Supreme National Security Council has confirmed the death of Ali Larijani in an Israeli strike.

The organization said in a statement that the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, his son Morteza Larijani, and the council's deputy security officer, Ali Reza Bayat, were killed along with a group of bodyguards.

It should be noted that Israel claimed to have killed Ali Larijani in an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday afternoon.

For more than two weeks, US and Israeli bombings of Iran have been ongoing, resulting in the deaths of several leaders, including former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Ali Larijani and other members of his family have held various positions in the Iranian leadership and are believed to play an important role in decision-making.

Larijani's family is influential in Iranian politics. It is often compared to the American Kennedy family in Western media. Larijani is considered one of the opponents of former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Ali Larijani has filed his papers as a presidential candidate three times. The last time he filed his papers was in 2024, after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash. But the committee responsible for vetting candidates rejected his nomination.

Larijani served as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and was believed to have been among the decision-makers in the aftermath of the assassination of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The Larijani family: Influence and important positions in the Islamic Republic

Ali Larijani was born in 1957 in the Iraqi city of Najaf, where his father had come in the early 1930s. He returned with his family in 1961.

He studied mathematics and received his master's and doctorate degrees in Western philosophy from the University of Tehran.

His father was a religious scholar. Ali Larijani has four brothers, all of whom have held positions in Iranian state institutions.

His brother, Sadeq Larijani, heads the Expediency Council, a high-level advisory body for government decisions.

He was previously a member of the Assembly of Experts and the Guardian Council, and later also head of the judiciary. He was also the target of US financial sanctions in 2019.

His brother, Mohammad Javad Larijani, was the secretary of the Human Rights Council and is currently the director of the Institute for Basic Scientific Research. He is also a member of the Iranian parliament.

His brother, Dr. Baqir Larijani, was appointed head of the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism at Tehran University of Medical Sciences. His other brother, Fazil Larijani, was the president of the Islamic Azad University of Iran and the Iranian cultural attaché in Ottawa, Canada.

Ali Larijani married the daughter of Ayatollah Morteza Motahari, a close associate of Imam Khomeini.

From the ranks of the Revolutionary Guard to the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council

Ali Larijani joined the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in the early 1980s after working briefly as a supervisor on a state-run Iranian channel. He rose to the position of deputy chief of the Joint Staff.

Larijani served with the Revolutionary Guard during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988).

From the early 1990s, under Ali Khamenei, Larijani shifted to political and cultural work and became known for his affiliation with Iran's conservative political faction.

In 1992, he succeeded Mohammad Khatami as Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance.

In 1994, he was appointed director of the state-run Iranian Broadcasting Corporation.

During this time, Larijani played a role in shifting Iranian media toward promoting Islamic ideology.

In 1996, Khamenei appointed him as his representative on the Supreme National Security Council for three years, and in 1997 he became a member of the Expediency Council.

In 1999, he was again appointed to the Supreme National Security Council as the Supreme Leader's representative.

He was reappointed to the Expediency Council in 2002.

He returned in 2004 as director of the state-run Iranian channel and founded two Arabic-language channels, Al-Alam and Sahar.

In 2005, he was appointed in charge of negotiations with the European Union regarding Iran's nuclear program, a position he held until 2007.

In the same year, he was reappointed to the Expediency Council.

In 2008, Ali Larijani was elected as a member of parliament and was elected speaker.

Larijani was elected speaker several times and held this position until 2020.

His membership in the Expediency Council was renewed several times during these years.

After his term as parliament speaker ended in 2020, Khamenei appointed him as his advisor.

He ran again in the 2021 presidential election, but the Guardian Council rejected his candidacy.

He was nominated again for the Expediency Council in 2022.

In 2024, the Guardian Council rejected his presidential nomination for a second time.

In August 2025, he was appointed head of the Supreme National Security Council and the Supreme Leader's representative on the council.

Iran's diplomatic face

Larijani led Iran's nuclear negotiations and served as parliament speaker during a period when sanctions were tightened on Iran.

Ali Larijani's role as Iran's representative abroad to resolve issues related to the recent wars in Gaza and Lebanon was prominent.

During the war, he met with officials in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and the Gulf and always emphasized that Iran supported its allies in the region.

In June 2025, Iran was the target of American and Israeli bombing. The bombing continued for several days between the Iranian and Israeli sides.

In the early hours of the attack, Israel managed to kill several senior security and political officials, and officials later admitted that President Masoud Peshkeskiyan survived an assassination attempt after being wounded.

A few months after the military confrontation, public protests spread in Iran, and Ali Larijani accused "organized and destructive" groups of taking advantage of the protesters' demands to "incite chaos and violence."

But in early February, the US administration imposed sanctions on Ali Larijani and other figures, accusing them of cracking down on the protesters.

In February 2026, Israel and the US launched new attacks on Iran, killing several leaders, most notably Khamenei. Larijani's rhetoric hardened after that. He was known for his pragmatic approach to the nuclear issue.

He had said that Tehran would not negotiate with the US and stressed that Iran was ready for a long-term war.