Ali Larijani: A Kant scholar who became Iran's wartime leader

Ali Larijani, Iran's top national security official and de facto leader, is the latest senior Iranian figure to be targeted since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran on Feb 28.

Larijani, 67, has in effect been running the country behind the scenes. Since Feb 28, when Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and a number of other senior officials, were killed in US-Israeli strikes, Larijani emerged as a defiant public voice of the Iranian govt, regularly condemning the US and Israel on social media. A trusted confidant of Ayatollah Khamenei, Larijani was among a group of officials whom the supreme leader tasked with devising a plan to ensure the Islamic Republic would survive if he were assassinated, according to senior Iranian officials and members of the royal guards.

Born in Najaf, Iraq in 1957 to a prominent Shia cleric who was close to the Islamic Republic's founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Larijani's family has been influential within Iran's political system for decades. Many media outlets have compared his family to the Kennedys in the US. One of his brother, Sadeq, served as the head of Iran's judiciary, while another, Mohammad Javad, was a senior diplomat who closely advised the late Khamenei on foreign affairs.

Larijani has been a conservative force within Iran's theocracy, issuing increasingly hard-line threats throughout the years. In the 1990s, he served as Iran's culture minister, tightening censorship. He served as parliament speaker from 2008 to 2020, and most recently as head of the Supreme National Security Council. In 2021, he was tasked with negotiating a 25-year comprehensive strategic deal with China that was worth billions.Before the US-Israeli assault began last month, Larijani's portfolio grew. He was in charge of putting down recent protests that demanded the end of Islamic rule, deploying lethal force to crush the demonstrations. He kept a lid on dissent and was the key liaison with Iran's allies including Russia, as well as regional actors like Qatar and Oman. He also oversaw nuclear negotiations with Washington, and had devised plans for managing Iran during a potential war with the US.Larijani often acted as the public face of the Iranian govt, sitting for TV interviews with Iranian and foreign media. His social media presence includes selfies with other Iranians, visiting a shrine and waving from the door of an airplane.Larijani's rise partly sidelined Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, a doctor who was seen as a moderate figure within the Iranian leadership. Even though Larijani was one of Ayatollah Khamenei's closest advisers, he was not a likely candidate to succeed him because he was not a senior Shia cleric - a fundamental qualification for any successor. Larijani had a reputation of being able to bridge the country's hard-line military elements and more moderate political factions. His killing could open the way for the military to tighten its grip over the ruling system. Though he was a veteran conservative politician, Larijani had a reputation as a relative pragmatist within a system increasingly dominated by hard-liners. Internally, he had pushed for a moderate new supreme leader to replace Khamenei, NYT reported this week.

He lost that argument, however, and the ayatollah's son, Mojtaba Khamenei, was chosen to replace his father.Larijani had even run in the 2005 presidential elections, losing to populist candidate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Larijani earned a PhD in Western Philosophy from the University of Tehran. He has also written at least six philosophy books, including three exploring the works of German philosopher Immanuel Kant. agencies