March 1 (Reuters) – Veteran Iranian politician Ali Larijani, who said on Sunday that a temporary leadership council would be created after an airstrike killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, re-emerged last year as one of the most powerful figures in the security hierarchy.
He has managed a broad portfolio of activities, from nuclear negotiations to Tehran’s regional relations and the violent repression of internal unrest.
A member of the establishment and from one of the country’s leading clerical families, Larijani oversaw Iran’s efforts to reach a nuclear deal with the United States — just a month after Washington imposed sanctions on him in January for allegedly leading a deadly crackdown on anti-government protests.
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He accused the US and Israel of trying to plunder and disintegrate Iran and warned “separatist groups” of a harsh response if they attempted any action, state television reported on Sunday, almost 24 hours after they launched a wave of attacks on Iran.
The chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, Abdolrahim Mousavi, was also killed in the attacks, Iran TV reported.
Appointed in August as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Larijani has held senior positions throughout a career marked by loyalty to Khamenei and a reputation for pragmatic relations with the system’s often rival factions.
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His status as Khamenei’s trusted strategist was underscored last month by a trip to mediator Oman to prepare indirect nuclear talks with the US, as Washington bolstered its military forces in the Middle East to try to force concessions from Iran ahead of the strikes.
Larijani has also made several trips to key ally Moscow in recent months to discuss a range of security ties, in a further sign of his return to high-level diplomacy.
LARIJANI SEES THE NUCLEAR ISSUE AS “RESOLVABLE”
Larijani, who had previously headed the SNSC 20 years ago, resumed leadership after last year’s 12-day air war between Iran and Israel, in which the US participated, formally returning to the center of Iran’s security establishment.
Some of his public statements on the nuclear issue have had a pragmatic tone.
“In my opinion, this issue is solvable,” Larijani told Omani state television last month, referring to negotiations with the US. “If the Americans’ concern is that Iran should not move forward in acquiring a nuclear weapon, that can be resolved.”
But following a wave of anti-government outrage in January, his role on the security council was denounced by Washington.
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According to a US government announcement detailing sanctions against him and other officials in response to the crackdown, Larijani was at the forefront of efforts to crush the series of demonstrations that swept Iran in January.
“Larijani was one of the first Iranian leaders to call for violence in response to the legitimate demands of the Iranian people,” a US Treasury statement said on January 15, saying that Larijani acted at the request of Khamenei.
Rights groups say thousands of people have been killed in the crackdown on protests, the worst internal unrest in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution era.
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“A PEARL FOR A CHOCOLATE BAR”
Like other Iranian officials, Larijani expressed understanding for demonstrations organized to protest economic hardship. But he condemned armed actions that he said were fomented by Iran’s arch-enemy, Israel.
“Popular protests must be completely separated from these terrorist-like groups,” he said, according to state media reports published on January 10. “The rioters are an urban quasi-terrorist group,” he said on January 26.
A former member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Larijani served as chief nuclear negotiator from 2005 to 2007, defending what Tehran claims is its right to enrich uranium. He once compared European incentives to abandon nuclear fuel production to “exchanging a pearl for a bar of chocolate.”
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At the time, Iranian analysts said he sought to persuade the West through diplomacy and was considered a pragmatist.
The US and Israel believe that Iran aspires to build a nuclear weapon that could threaten Israel’s existence. Iran claims its nuclear program is purely peaceful.
Larijani was president of Parliament from 2008 to 2020. During that term, Iran reached a nuclear deal with six world powers in 2015, after almost two years of delicate negotiations.
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President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the hard-won agreement during his first term in 2018.
Larijani warned that Iran’s nuclear program “can never be destroyed.”
“Because once you discover a technology, they can’t take that discovery away from you,” he told PBS Frontline in September 2025. “It’s like you’re the inventor of some machine and it’s stolen from you. You can still make it again.”
Larijani has made repeated visits to Moscow and met with President Vladimir Putin, helping Khamenei manage a key ally and global power that acts as a counterweight to pressure from Trump.
Larijani was also tasked with advancing negotiations with China, which led to a 25-year cooperation agreement in 2021.
He unsuccessfully ran for president in 2005. He later attempted to run in the 2021 and 2024 presidential elections, but was blocked both times by the Guardian Council, which cited issues such as living standards and family ties abroad.
Born in Najaf, Iraq, in 1958 to a prominent Iranian clerical family, Larijani moved to Iran as a child and earned a doctorate in philosophy. Several of his brothers also held important positions in the establishment, including in the judiciary and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
One of Larijani’s daughters was fired in January from a position as a professor of medicine at Emory University in the United States, following protests by Iranian-American activists outraged by her role in repressing that month’s demonstrations.
