Ali Larijani

Ali Ardashir Larijani (born 3 June 1958)^{[citation needed]} is an Iranian politician and former military officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who serves as Secretary of Supreme National Security Council since 2025. He served as the Speaker of the Parliament of Iran from 2008 to 2020. He has been a member of the Expediency Discernment Council since 2020, having previously served from 1997 to 2008.

Larijani filed for candidacy in the 2024 presidential election, but was ultimately disqualified. He previously ran in 2005, but finished in 6th place, and was also disqualified from running in 2021.

Larijani was the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council from 15 August 2005 to 20 October 2007, appointed to the position by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, replacing Hassan Rouhani. Acceptance of Larijani's resignation from the secretary position was announced on 20 October 2007 by Gholam-Hossein Elham, the Iranian government's spokesman, mentioning that President Ahmadinejad turned down his previous resignations.

Larijani was one of the two representatives of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ali Khamenei to the council, the other being Hassan Rouhani. In his post as secretary, he effectively functioned as the top negotiator on issues of national security, including Iran's nuclear program. He is also currently a member of Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution.

Ali Larijani was born in Najaf, Iraq to Iranian Persian parents. He hails from a religious Shia gentry family based in Amol in the province of Mazandaran. His father was a leading cleric, Ayatollah Mirza Hashem Amoli. His parents moved to Najaf in 1931 due to pressure of the ruler Reza Shah, but returned to Iran in 1961.

Larijani is a graduate of Qom seminary. He also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science and mathematics from Aryamehr University of Technology and holds a master's degree and PhD in Western philosophy from the University of Tehran. Initially, he wanted to continue his graduate studies in computer science, but changed his subject after consultation with Morteza Motahhari. Larijani has published books on Immanuel Kant, Saul Kripke, and David Lewis. Larijani is a faculty member of the School of Literature and Humanities at the University of Tehran.

Larijani is a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards. Larijani served as the deputy minister of labor and social affairs. Then it was appointed deputy minister of information and communications technology. In March 1994, he was appointed head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, replacing Mohammad Hashemi Rafsanjani in the post. He was in office until 21 July 2004 and was succeeded by Ezzatollah Zarghami after serving ten years in the post. He became security adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in August 2004.

Larijani was a presidential candidate for the 2005 presidential elections, where he ranked sixth, winning 5.94% of the votes. He was considered the most important presidential candidate of the conservative alliance for the 2005 presidential elections. He was supported by the Islamic Society of Engineers (ISE), among other conservative groups. He had been announced as the final choice of the conservative Council for Coordination of the Forces of the Revolution, made from representatives of some influential conservative parties and organizations. However, he proved to be the least popular of the three conservative candidates, the others being Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (second rank in the first round, winner in the second round) and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (fourth rank in the first round).