An Israeli airstrike on Tuesday killed Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, and Gholamreza Soleimani, the commander of the paramilitary Basij force, along with a dozen other soldiers. Larijani was one of the few moderate leaders in Iran's hardline establishment. He played a key role in nuclear

talks with the West. However, after the US-Israeli strike on February 28 killed his supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the commander of the Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Larijani took a more aggressive stance. "The US and the Jewish rulers have set fire to the hearts of the Iranian nation," he wrote on social media. "We will burn their hearts." We will make the Jewish criminals and the shameless Americans regret it.’ Larijani

played a very important role in bringing Iran into the resistance struggle amid the power vacuum created after Khamenei’s death. His role was important, from forming a three-member government steering council to coordinating between the Revolutionary Guards Corps and the council.

Because he was very popular among the members of the Revolutionary Guards. According to Western media, he was recently against the proposal to make Mojtaba Khamenei the Supreme Leader

Because one of the reasons for the Islamic Revolution was the opposition to dynasticism. On the other hand, he wanted to see a liberal face that the world could trust in leadership. However, after the Assembly of Experts selected Khamenei, he abandoned his differences and said that he was in favor of this decision.  One reason why Larijani, 67, has remained so powerful in power is his personal connections to the wealthy elite of the post-1979 revolution. He himself was a member of a wealthy family of Amol. All five of his brothers hold influential positions in power.

Larijani married Farideh, the daughter of Morteza Motahari, a confidant of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ruhollah Khomeini, when he was 20. Larijani is a different person than many of his peers who came from religious madrasas. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in mathematics and computer science from Sharif University of Technology in 1979. He also completed his master's and doctorate in Western philosophy from the University of Tehran, writing a thesis on the famous 18th-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant. He has written at least six books on philosophy, three of which are about Kant.

After the 1979 revolution, he became a member of the Revolutionary Guards Corps. His role in the Iran-Iraq War earned him recognition as a brave commander among Iranians.

He served as Minister of Culture under President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani from 1994 to 1997 and then as the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) from 1994 to 2004.

From 2008 to 2020, he served three consecutive terms as Speaker of Parliament. During this time, he played a significant role in shaping Iran's domestic and foreign policies.

Larijani was also a presidential candidate in 2005. But he failed to garner enough votes. That same year, he was appointed Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and the country's chief nuclear negotiator. He sought to advance the nuclear negotiations process with then-US President George W. Bush. However, the hardline Iranian regime was not ready for this. He then resigned from his post in 2007. However, Iran is not ready for this

Larijani was the speaker of the country's parliament when Iran signed a nuclear deal with the US, Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, Britain and the European Union in 2015. He played a major role in persuading hardliners within the country while negotiations with foreigners were underway under the leadership of Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. 

After his term as secretary of the National Security Council and speaker of the parliament ended in 2020, he began preparing to become president.

However, his attempts to run for president in 2021 and 2024 were unsuccessful. The Guardian Council, which examines the qualifications of candidates, declared him ineligible both times. Larijani called such a decision "opaque" to smooth the way for other establishment leaders.

However, the 12-day war with Israel in June 2025 and the subsequent crisis made Larijani's importance to the Iranian establishment clear. In August 2025, President Masoud Peshmerga reappointed him as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.

Since then, he has been very influential. Within days of his appointment, Larijani announced that the cooperation agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency had been canceled. He declared that the agency's report was ineffective.

He took a tougher and tougher policy to suppress anti-government protests that began in Iran in late December. As a result, a large number of protesters were killed. According to Western analysts, Khamenei had entrusted him with the responsibility of suppressing the protests. 

Despite this, Larijani was seen by the Western world as a pragmatic and compromise-oriented politician. He always believed that the 2015 nuclear deal should be followed. 

Al Jazeera reported that he was involved in indirect talks with the United States shortly before the war began on February 28. 

Larijani's death is a great loss for Iran. Larijani had the ability to balance power with those of diverse ideologies in Iran. He had the personality to convince the Revolutionary Guards Corps to stop the war. 

The British newspaper Guardian commented, ‘Larijani’s death could be a bigger loss to Iran than Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.