Once Inspired By Immanuel Kant, Ali Larijani Became Iran's Top Military Strategist 

One of the first public remarks made by the Iranian security chief Ali Larijani after US-Israel jointly started bombing Iran was that "We will not negotiate with the Americans."

Almost 20 days after the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, an Israeli air strike has “eliminated” Larijani, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put it.

He described Larijani as the boss of the Revolutionary Guards, “which is the gang of gangsters that actually runs Iran.”

 However, he is also being remembered as the sure-footed, resolute leader sitting at the core of Iranian military and diplomacy strategy and standing tall beside Khamenei all these years. With a master's and doctorate degrees in Western philosophy from the University of Tehran, he was a man known for writing books on 18th‑century philosopher Immanuel Kant and for his pragmatic role in negotiating nuclear agreements with Western powers.

Over his career, Larijani held numerous prominent positions, including commander in the Revolutionary Guard Corps during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting for a decade till 2004. In 2008, he was elected to the Majles, which functions as Iran's legislative assembly; and assumed the role of Speaker, a position he held until 2020. 

Iran's Kennedy clan

Born in Iraq in a prominent influential clerical family, the Larijanis moved back to Iran in 1960.  Time magazine described his family as Iran’s ‘Kennedys’. It stated: Often referred to as Iran’s equivalent of the Kennedy clan, the five Larijani brothers–all bearded, sandy-haired and bespectacled–have spent the past three decades consolidating their power. They’ve run for the presidency, won Cabinet posts, served on the Council of Guardians and Assembly of Experts, directed state broadcasting, served as deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards.

His eldest brother, Mohammad-Javad Larijani, served in parliament before becoming a senior adviser to Khamenei, while his younger brother, Sadiq Larijani, rose through the clerical ranks to head the judiciary.

After the June 2025 Israeli US attacks on Iran, Larijani was made secretary of the supreme national security council. Within Iran’s complex political system, the council serves as the central body that brings together top civilian leaders, military and intelligence commanders, acting as a key bridge between the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the regular armed forces, and Iran’s civilian administration in shaping national security and defense policy. 

Hard target

Larijani's death marks him as the second-highest Iranian official to be killed by Israel since the killing of Khamenei on February 28, an escalation that has pushed West Asia toward war, disrupted the Gulf region, closed the Strait of Hormuz and caused a global spike in energy prices.

One of the first Iranian leaders to speak after Khamenei’s killing, within 24 hours after the US-Israel air attacks killed Khamenei and Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Mohammad Pakpour, Larijani said that America and the Zionist regime [Israel] have set the “heart of the Iranian nation ablaze,” 

“We will burn their hearts. We will make the Zionist criminals and the shameless Americans regret their actions,” he wrote on social media. 

On March 17, Larijani was killed in an air attack while visiting his daughter on the eastern outskirts of a Tehran suburb, according to Iran’s semi‑official Fars news agency. Separately, Iranian state media reported that Brigadier general Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Basij paramilitary force, was also killed in an attack.

Iranian army chief Amir Hatami has warned of a “decisive” retaliation following the killing of security chief Ali Larijani in an Israeli air strike.

“At the right time and place, a decisive, deterrent, and regretful response will be delivered to the criminal United States and the bloodthirsty Zionist regime,” Hatami said in a statement.

He added that the deaths of Larijani and other “martyrs” would be avenged.