Ali Larijani Emerges as Iran’s Key Power Figure Amid Middle East War

Following the assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by Israeli and US forces at the start of the Middle East war, Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani has risen to unprecedented prominence, consolidating power he has held for decades.

While Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz claimed on Tuesday that Larijani had been killed, Iranian authorities have not confirmed his death. Since the outbreak of hostilities, Larijani has played a far more visible role than the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been publicly seen since his appointment.

Larijani was recently observed walking among crowds at a pro-government rally in Tehran, signaling defiance against Israel and the US. “His killing, if confirmed, would be a major blow against the Islamic republic, undermining a key figure seen as capable of navigating both ideology and diplomacy,” analysts noted.

Known for balancing ideological loyalty with pragmatic governance, Larijani has been central to Iran’s nuclear policy and strategic diplomacy for years. The 68-year-old, bespectacled and measured in tone, enjoyed the confidence of the late Khamenei, building a long career spanning military service, media leadership, and legislative roles.

In 2025, after Iran’s previous war with Israel and the US, Larijani was appointed head of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), a position he had held nearly two decades earlier, coordinating defense strategy and overseeing nuclear policy. He also became increasingly active in diplomacy, visiting Gulf states like Oman and Qatar as Tehran engaged cautiously in nuclear negotiations disrupted by the war.

“Larijani is a true insider, a canny operator, familiar with how the system operates,” said Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group.

Born in Najaf, Iraq, in 1957 to a prominent clerical family close to the Islamic Republic’s founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Larijani has remained influential within Iran’s political system for decades. He earned a PhD in Western Philosophy from the University of Tehran, served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps during the Iran-Iraq War, and led state broadcasting IRIB for a decade before becoming parliamentary speaker from 2008 to 2020.

Larijani also served as Khamenei’s representative to the SNSC and chief nuclear negotiator from 2005 to 2007, engaging with Britain, France, Germany, and Russia. He ran unsuccessfully for president in 2005 and was later disqualified from presidential elections in 2021 and 2024.

Observers have viewed his return as SNSC head as a sign of his reputation as a conservative pragmatist capable of combining ideological commitment with strategic statecraft. He supported the 2015 nuclear deal, which collapsed after the US withdrawal, and in March 2025 warned that external pressure could alter Iran’s nuclear posture.

“We are not moving towards (nuclear) weapons, but if you do something wrong in the Iranian nuclear issue, you will force Iran to move towards that because it has to defend itself,” he stated on state television. Larijani emphasized that negotiations with Washington should remain limited to the nuclear file and defended uranium enrichment as a sovereign right of Iran.

He was among Iranian officials sanctioned by the US in January for “violently repressing the Iranian people” during nationwide protests triggered by rising living costs. Larijani acknowledged that economic pressures contributed to the protests but attributed ensuing violence to foreign interference by the United States and Israel.