Ali Larijani, the leader of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, is the man regarded by experts as the most likely to step into the power vacuum left by the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after joint US-Israel strikes.
Hours after the deadly strikes, Mr Larijani, 67, took to X – a platform banned to most Iranian citizens – to write: “Today we will hit them with a force that they have never experienced before.”
His aggressive approach hardened over the weekend as a three-person interim committee officially took over the leadership of the Islamic Republic. He also hit out at reports that he had made a new effort to continue nuclear talks with the Trump administration.
“We will not negotiate with the United States,” he responded, adding that President Trump held “delusional fantasies” about the unfolding war.
Who is Ali Larijani?
Born in the city of Najaf in 1958, Mr Larijani began his career in government as deputy minister of labour and social affairs. In 1994, he was appointed head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, where he remained for a decade.
In 2005, Mr Larijani was appointed as Supreme National Security Council secretary, putting him in charge of Iran’s nuclear negotiations. He had recently been overseeing Tehran’s efforts to reach a nuclear deal with the US.
While Mr Larijani himself is not among the new three-man council, power in Iran is believed to remain concentrated within the Security Council, which had reportedly already sidelined Khamenei since the disastrous 12-day war with Israel in June last year.
Mr Larijani's power has also eclipsed that of the official president, Masoud Pezeshkian, as he has not only taken the lead in the international arena in recent months, but also domestically. He was among the earliest and loudest voices in Iran’s leadership calling for deadly violence to crush political demonstrations that erupted at the end of last year as Iran’s economic crisis deepened.
The unrest, the largest uprising since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, was met with a brutal crackdown. As many as 30,000 people are believed to have been killed by the regime this year, according to Iran International.
How powerful is Larijani?
Mr Larijani’s grip on power comes despite the fact that he is not among the clerics Khamenei had identified as potential successors. The supreme leader had left a shortlist of three religious figures, with the role formally reserved for a cleric.
But Khamenei’s death and US-Israeli aggression have upended long‑held assumptions about the continuity of clerical rule, opening the door to the possibility that a hardline security figure such as Mr Larijani could take the helm. He is therefore regarded by experts not just as a plausible leadership contender for the country, but one who could steer Iran toward an even more militarised model of governance.
While Donald Trump has said he wants to see regime change in Iran, the interim leadership has vowed vengeance against the US and Israel.
How has Larijani responded to the attacks?
Mr Larijani has accused the US and Israel of trying to plunder and disintegrate Iran, and he warned “secessionist groups” of a harsh response if they attempted any action, state television reported on Sunday. In a post on X the same day, Mr Larijani claimed President Trump had plunged the Middle East into chaos.
“With his delusional actions, he has transformed his self-made slogan of ‘America First’ into ‘Israel First’ and sacrificed American soldiers for Israel’s quest for power,” Mr Larijani wrote. “He once again imposes the cost of his cult of personality on American soldiers and families. Today, the Iranian nation is defending itself... the Iranian armed forces did not initiate the invasion”.
Fourth US service member dies in Iran strikes
Exiled Iranian crown prince Reza Pahlavi sends message to Trump after Khamenei killed
Hegseth says Iran won’t be a ‘politically correct’ war as he lays out US objectives
‘Several’ US fighter jets shot down in ‘friendly fire’ incident
Mapped: Where strikes and explosions have been heard in Middle East
