Ali Larijani was killed in an IDF strike ordered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday. As the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, he oversaw the Islamic Republic's defense, intelligence, and foreign policy.
He was appointed to the position in August 2025 and previously held the role from August 2005 to October 2007.
During his career, Larijani held many other senior positions within the Islamic regime, including Parliament speaker for 12 years from 2008 until 2020, Culture and Islamic Guidance minister, head of the state broadcaster, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) from 1994 until 2004, and reportedly deputy of the joint chiefs of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Larijani was also involved in talks with European countries about the nuclear program.
After the IDF killed then-supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior Iranian officials on February 28, Larijani became one of the most senior people in Iran's government hierarchy, with many believing that he made most of the decisions, particularly as new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is believed to be incapacitated by an Israeli strike.
As previously reported by The Jerusalem Post, following the February 28 strike, Larijani may have held the keys to power behind the throne.
Larijani's father, brothers also notable in Iranian politics, Shia jurisprudence
Larijani's father, Hashim, was a senior Shia Islamic jurisprudence scholar who fled to Najaf, Iraq, following a clampdown on the clergy by the Pahlavi Shah. Ali Larijani was born in Najaf in 1958, before his family returned following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Ali Larijani had four brothers, all of whom have held relatively senior positions within the Islamic Republic. His eldest brother, Mohammad-Javad Ardeshir Larijani, was a member of parliament and senior advisor to Ali Khamenei on foreign policy, and his younger brother, Sadegh, is a cleric who has served as the chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council since 2018, and previously served as the chief justice from 2009 to 2019.
Seth J. Frantzman contributed to this report.