Iran’s state-run Fars news agency confirmed the death of Ali Larijani, secretary of the National Security Council.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said earlier in the day that Larijani had been killed in an Israeli airstrike.
In a statement carried by Iran’s Mehr News news agency, the country’s National Security Council confirmed Larijani’s assassination.
“After a lifetime spent fighting for the rise of Iran and the Islamic Revolution, he finally achieved his long-cherished desire, answered the call of truth, and proudly achieved the blessed act of martyrdom on the frontline,” the statement said.
Larijani was considered one of Iran’s most influential politicians and security officials.
He held a number of key positions during his career, including as speaker of the Iranian parliament, and as an advisor to Iran’s supreme leader on strategic matters. He was considered close to the establishment and an important figure in national security decision-making.
The confirmation of Larijani’s death came after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirmed the death of “Basij” commander Gholamreza Soleimani.
Following the 1979 revolution, Larijani joined the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the early 1980s, before moving into government, serving as Minister of Culture under President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani from 1994 to 1997, and then as head of the state broadcaster (IRIB) from 1994 to 2004. During his time at IRIB, he faced criticism from reformists who saw his restrictive policies as the reason why Iranian youth increasingly followed foreign media.
From 2008 to 2020, he served as Speaker of Parliament (Majlis) for three consecutive terms, playing a key role in shaping domestic and foreign policy. Larijani ran for president in 2005 as a conservative but did not make it past the second round. That same year, he was appointed Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and the country’s chief nuclear negotiator.
He resigned from these positions in 2007, after distancing himself from then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s nuclear policies.
Larijani entered parliament in 2008, winning a seat representing the religious center of Qom, and became speaker of the parliament.
This allowed him to increase his influence and he maintained his connection to the nuclear issue, securing parliamentary support for the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
After stepping down as speaker of parliament and member of parliament in 2020, Larijani attempted to run again for president in the 2021 elections, but was disqualified by the Guardian Council. He was disqualified again when he attempted to run in the 2024 presidential election.
The Guardian Council did not give a reason for the disqualification, but analysts in 2021 interpreted it as a way to clear the way for hardliner Ebrahim Raisi, who won the election. Larijani criticized the 2024 disqualification as “non-transparent”.
However, he resumed his influential post in August 2025, when President Masoud Pezeshkian reappointed him as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.
Since then, his position has become more rigid. In October 2025, it was reported that Larijani had canceled a cooperation agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, claiming that the agency’s reports were “no longer relevant”.
However, Larijani has often been seen as a pragmatic and compromise-minded figure within the Iranian establishment, in part due to his role in supporting the 2015 nuclear deal.
