‘We will burn enemies’ hearts’: Who is Ali Larijani, part of transitional council that will run Iran after Khamenei’s death?

Larijani is part of the three-person transitional council that will run Iran after Khamenei's death.

New Delhi: Following the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, one name that is on everyone’s lips is that of Ali Larijani. Ali Larijani is currently the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. For decades, Ali Larijani was the calm and practical face of the Iranian government. He wrote books on the 18th-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant and negotiated Iran’s nuclear deal with the West. However, after Khamenei’s death on March 1, his tone has completely changed.

Ali Larijani’s warning to USA and Israel

According to Al Jazeera, Larijani appeared on Iranian state television and delivered a message just 24 hours after Supreme Leader Khamenei was killed in an Israeli-American airstrike. He wrote on social media, “America and the Zionist regime (Israel) have set fire to the heart of the Iranian nation.” He added, “We will burn their hearts. We will make the Zionist criminals and the shameless Americans regret their actions.” He further said, “The brave soldiers and the great nation of Iran will teach the hellish international oppressors a lesson they will never forget.”

About Larijani

Larijani is part of the three-person transitional council that will run Iran after Khamenei’s death. He is expected to play a key role in Iran’s governance. Ali Larijani was born on June 3, 1958, in Najaf, Iraq. His family was already influential and wealthy. Time magazine described them as “Iran’s Kennedys” in 2009. His father, Mirza Hashem Amoli, was a renowned religious scholar.

Larijani’s family is highly influential in Iran

Like Larijani, his brothers have held some of the most powerful positions in Iran, including the judiciary and the Assembly of Experts, a clerical council empowered to select and oversee the Supreme Leader. Larijani also has personal ties to Iran’s post-1979 revolutionary elite. At the age of 20, he married Farideh Motahari, the daughter of Morteza Motahari, a close confidant of Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Ali Larijani’s education

Despite being born and raised in a religious family, Ali Larijani received a high level of education. Larijani not only received a religious education, but also earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science from Sharif University of Technology in 1979. He later completed a master’s and doctoral degree in Western philosophy from Tehran University, writing his thesis on Kant. His daughter Fatemeh is also a graduate of Tehran University and completed her specialization from Cleveland State University in Ohio, USA.