The regime's eyes are on Ali Larijani as the new strongman of Tehran.

BarcelonaAmid the chaos and uncertainty it has caused in the Iranian regime the assassination of their supreme leader, Ali KhameneiAmong the 40 members of his elite, one figure has emerged as a key player in managing the current crisis: Ali Larijani. The 68-year-old Larijani, currently Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, has held several prominent positions within the Iranian political system throughout his long career. It was precisely because of his experience and expertise that Khamenei had entrusted him with the responsibility of managing the crisis in recent weeks. negotiations with the U.S., bypassing President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Although he is not part of the triumvirate that has assumed Khamenei's functions on an interim basis, his stature has now been further enhanced, according to some experts. Beyond his expertise, Larijani could play a decisive role in the coming weeks due to his close ties with various sectors of the complex Iranian regime, cultivated over more than four decades of service within the power structure.

Few people in Iran enjoy the trust of such diverse and powerful institutions as the Revolutionary Guard—the regime's praetorian guard—Parliament, the army, and the circle of the most influential ayatollahs. He also has a deep network of international contacts. Indeed, for several years he was Iran's top representative at the negotiations with the West on the Iranian nuclear programLarijani will need to sharpen his wits to successfully complete the task in what is the worst crisis the Islamic Republic has faced since its founding in 1979.

The father, a Shiite cleric

Born in 1958 in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf, where his father, a Shiite cleric, had gone into exile for his opposition to the Shah's regime, Larijani was able to return to Iran during his childhood and pursue university studies in mathematics and computer science. He later completed a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Tehran, writing his dissertation on the thought of the German philosopher Immanuel Kant. Following the Islamic Revolution and the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War, he joined the Revolutionary Guard, where he gained military experience and attained the rank of deputy commander. In the early 1990s, he began his political career, serving as Minister of Culture and Minister of the Islamic Council. In 1994, having already gained Khamenei's trust, he was appointed director of Iran's state broadcasting agency, a key organ through which the regime disseminates its ideological propaganda.

After a decade in office, the Supreme Leader rewarded his services by appointing him chairman of the Supreme National Security Council, the institution in charge of nuclear negotiations with the West. Larijani combined his rise through the ranks of the administration with cultivating his own political profile. In 2008, he was elected to parliament for the constituency of Qom, a holy city for Iranian Shia Islam, as well as speaker of the National Assembly, a position to which he was re-elected eight times and which he held until 2020.

However, his successful political career has not been without its setbacks. In 2005, he ran for president, obtaining a meager 6% of the vote. On two other occasions, in 2021 and 2024, his presidential ambitions were thwarted by the Guardian Council, the body that vets presidential candidates, which declared him ineligible.

A few days after the war against Israel and the US last summerKhamenei once again called upon his services and reappointed him to head the Supreme National Security Council. With this extensive resume and strong revolutionary credentials, some wonder if Larijani could play the same role in Iran as Delcy Rodríguez did in Venezuela: negotiating with Trump and selling a series of painful concessions to the regime's base to ensure its survival. However, this requires one initial condition: that Washington and Tel Aviv do not target him.