‘We have passed through the nights of separation and we are still alive; we never imagined we had such a stubborn hold on life.” – Sheikh Baha’i, 7th century Iranian philosopher
Centuries after Sheikh Baha’i wrote those lines, many of us never imagined they would describe the fate of Iranians so precisely: the children of an ancient land, struck down one by one in the streets – spilling their blood not against a foreign enemy, but at the hands of a government whose agents are themselves Iranian.
It is a brutal truth to absorb: an Islamic government once chosen by the previous generation on promises of justice and equality now turns around and butchers its own people. In Iran’s modern history, the claim being voiced today – that more than 35,000 people have been killed within days – would be unprecedented even compared to the Iran-Iraq War.
Each time mass protests erupt, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issues a full suppression order. He deploys IRGC and Basij forces that have trained for years for precisely this moment, instructing them not to retreat until the flames of protest are fully extinguished.
But the regime’s strategy does not rely on armed force alone. Alongside the “combat” apparatus, Khamenei also summons a circle of trusted insiders to advise and coordinate – figures who can function as the thinking brain behind the scenes and help manage the political ecosystem surrounding the crackdown.
These are typically reliable individuals who are not formally military and often do not wear clerical robes. That matters: the regime can present them as “ordinary” or “civilian” faces – an acceptable storefront that can bridge the most hardline factions with less hardline constituencies. While street-level tension is escalated to the maximum, these figures are used to maintain equilibrium among power centers backstage and keep rival networks calm, disciplined, and obedient.
The dual legitimacy of the Larijani family
ONE OF the most important of these insider networks is the Larijani family: five brothers, sons of Ayatollah Mirza Hashem Amoli, who was a prominent Shi’a marja (source of emulation). Their family background in the clergy, combined with the fact that several of them hold advanced university degrees, has given them a rare dual legitimacy.
They can be trusted and validated by clerical circles, while also remaining palatable to political elites who may be more “moderate” in style and not necessarily as overtly religious as the traditional seminary establishment. In critical moments, they have repeatedly positioned themselves beside Khamenei and executed his directives to keep the country under control.
Perhaps for that reason, TIME magazine in 2009 pointed to the family’s influence and, in that article, compared them to the Kennedy family in the United States. That was the year of massive protests over alleged presidential election fraud – when millions marched in support of reformist candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who had been Iran’s last prime minister (1981-89), and when the Green Movement was born.
In that context, Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani was appointed (by Khamenei’s decree) as the head of Iran’s judiciary. Under his watch, mass arrests, long prison sentences, and executions were carried out. In subsequent years, new punitive criminal laws were also approved during his tenure.
The key point is this: at the very same time that Sadeq Larijani controlled one branch of government, his brother Ali Larijani was speaker of parliament. Few appointments were as controversial as the period when the Larijani brothers simultaneously held two of the country’s most powerful branches.
YEARS LATER, that period of dominance appeared to shift. Rumors of tensions between the Larijanis and Khamenei grew louder, and in 2018 – after Ebrahim Raisi became head of the judiciary – Sadeq Larijani was moved by the Supreme Leader into new roles: as a jurist member of the Guardian Council and head of the Expediency Discernment Council.
Ali Larijani, after the end of his term as Speaker and the start of a new parliament, was appointed as a “Advisor to the Leader” and a member of the Expediency Council.
Many interpreted these moves as the end of the Larijanis’ peak influence – as if they were no longer among the Islamic Republic’s essential political pieces.
Yet the same TIME analysis that highlighted their power also offered a deeper observation: this family has a long record of changing course whenever necessary to remain inside the inner circle. The argument went further, provocatively suggesting that if the shah were still in power, they would have been close to him; and if Iran were someday transformed into a different democratic system, they would rebrand themselves as progressive democrats. Whatever the system, the core instinct is survival through proximity to power.
That is why we are once again witnessing Ali Larijani’s renewed presence near the supreme leader.
AFTER MORE than three decades in senior positions at the top of the state, Ali Larijani became secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council after the 12 day war, under the leadership and direction of Khamenei. Based on available evidence and information, he has played a central role in transmitting, managing, and coordinating the implementation of suppression orders.
On January 15, one week after the start of the latest wave of crackdowns, the US sanctioned Larijani – accusing him, in his role as council secretary, of “coordinating the suppression of protests and issuing orders for the use of force against protesters.”
Earlier, on January 9, Larijani declared – using language that did not resemble a “request” but a warning – that the judiciary would deal with protesters “without leniency.”
That role also triggered public outrage over reports regarding his daughter’s presence at Emory University, which led to a petition campaign and ultimately an expulsion order for her.
More recently, in one of his latest speeches, Larijani claimed that the “Zionist regime” had connected with “thugs” to prepare for armed urban warfare inside Iran – echoing the regime’s familiar narrative that protesters are killed by “terrorist agents,” not by state forces. With eyewitness testimony and extensive video evidence to the contrary, this storyline convinces very few.
Ultimately, the Larijani brothers’ visible presence behind the scenes and beside the supreme leader signals a renewed alignment between them and Khamenei – an alliance that appears whenever the regime faces historic pressure.
And it is not only the Larijanis. In moments of existential danger, other figures – such as Mohammad Khatami – also re-emerge to defend the system. They understand a basic reality: if the roots of this system are truly severed, their own futures may not be secure either.
And so, the “important pieces” remain on the board – mobilized again, with full capacity – moving toward maximum repression in the name of survival.
The writer is a legal scholar and journalist specializing in constitutional and international law, with a focus on Iran and Middle East politics.