Iran’s security chief and the head of its Basij militia Ali Larijani, who has reportedly been killed in new Israeli airstrikes, had re-emerged last year as one of the most powerful figures in the security hierarchy.

Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said in a statement he had been informed by the military that Ali Larijani had been killed.

Iranian state media published a handwritten note by Larijani commemorating Iranian sailors killed in a US attack, whose funeral was expected on Tuesday, but there was no immediate comment by Tehran on Katz’s remarks.

Larijani would be the most senior figure assassinated since supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei was killed on the first day of Israeli-US airstrikes on 28 February.

The Basij militia is a part-time paramilitary force under the control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that is often used to quell protests inside Iran.

Larijani had been managing a broad portfolio, from nuclear negotiations to Tehran’s regional ties to its violent suppression of internal unrest.

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Larijani had also been vocal during the conflict with the US and Israel, with the Iranian official making a thinly veiled threat against Donald Trump.

“The sacrificial nation of Iran doesn’t fear your empty threats,” the security chief wrote in a defiant post on X (formerly Twitter) last Tuesday in response to Mr Trump’s Truth Social post.

“Even those bigger than you couldn’t eliminate Iran. Be careful not to get eliminated yourself.”

An establishment insider who hails from one of the country’s leading clerical families, Larijani had been overseeing Iran’s efforts to reach a nuclear deal with the United States, just a month after Washington sanctioned him in January for allegedly directing a deadly crackdown on anti-government protests.

He accused the United States and Israel of trying to plunder and disintegrate Iran and warned “secessionist groups” of a harsh response if they attempted any action, state television said on Sunday, nearly 24 hours after they began a wave of attacks on Iran.

Appointed in August as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Larijani held senior jobs throughout a career marked by loyalty to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a reputation for pragmatic relations with the system’s often-rival factions.

His status as a trusted Khamenei strategist was underscored last month by a trip to mediator Oman to prepare for indirect nuclear talks with the US, as Washington built up its military forces in the Middle East to try to force concessions from Iran ahead of the strikes.

Larijani had also made several trips to key ally Moscow in recent months to discuss a range of security ties, in a further sign of his return to high-level diplomacy.

Larijani sees nuclear issue as ‘resolvable’

Larijani, who had an earlier stint heading the SNSC 20 years ago, resumed its leadership following last year’s 12-day air war between Iran and Israel, which was joined by the US, returning formally to the heart of Iran’s security establishment.

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Some of his public statements on the nuclear issue struck a pragmatic tone.

“In my view, this issue is resolvable,” Larijani told Oman state television last month, referring to the talks with the US. “If the Americans’ concern is that Iran should not move toward acquiring a nuclear weapon, that can be addressed.”

But in the wake of January’s outpouring of anti-government anger, his security council role was denounced by Washington.

According to a US government announcement detailing sanctions against him and other officials in response to the crackdown, Larijani was at the forefront of efforts to crush the series of demonstrations that swept Iran in January.

“Larijani was one of the first Iranian leaders to call for violence in response to the legitimate demands of the Iranian people,” a US Treasury statement said on 15 January, saying Larijani had acted at Khamenei’s behest.

Rights groups say thousands of people were killed in the crackdown on the protests, the worst domestic unrest in Iran since the era of its 1979 Islamic Revolution.

‘A pearl for a candy bar’

Like other Iranian officials, Larijani expressed understanding for demonstrations staged in protest at economic hardship. But he condemned armed actions he alleged were fomented by Iran’s arch-enemy Israel.

“Popular protests must be completely separated from these terrorist-similar groups,” state media reports published on 10 January quoted him as saying. “The rioters are an urban quasi-terrorist group,” he was quoted as saying on 26 January.

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A former member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Larijani served as chief nuclear negotiator from 2005-2007, defending what Tehran says is its right to enrich uranium. He once likened European incentives to abandon nuclear fuel production to “exchanging a pearl for a candy bar”.

Back then, Iranian analysts said he sought to persuade the West through diplomacy and was regarded as a pragmatist.

The US and Israel believe Iran aspires to build a nuclear weapon that could threaten Israel’s existence. Iran says its nuclear programme is purely peaceful.

Larijani was parliamentary speaker from 2008 to 2020. During that posting, Iran struck a nuclear deal with six world powers in 2015 after almost two years of delicate negotiations. President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the hard-fought agreement during his first term in 2018.

Engaging with Putin

Larijani has cautioned that Iran’s nuclear programme “can never be destroyed”.

“Because once you have discovered a technology, they can’t take the discovery away,” he told PBS Frontline in September 2025. “It’s as if you are the inventor of some machine, and the machine is stolen from you. You can still make it again.”

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Larijani has made repeated visits to Moscow and met Vladimir Putin, helping Khamenei manage a key ally and world power which acts as a counterweight to pressure from Trump.

Larijani was also tasked with advancing negotiations with China, which led to a 25-year cooperation agreement in 2021.

He ran unsuccessfully for president in 2005. He later sought to contest the 2021 and 2024 presidential elections, but was barred both times by the Guardian Council, which cited issues including lifestyle standards and family ties abroad.

Born in Najaf, Iraq, in 1958 to a leading Iranian clerical family, Larijani moved to Iran as a child and went on to earn a philosophy PhD. Several of his brothers have also held senior establishment jobs including in the judiciary and foreign ministry.

One of Larijani’s daughters was dismissed in January from her assistant professorship at the Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, following protests by Iranian-American activists angered by his role in the suppression of that month’s demonstrations.