Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has entrusted Ali Larijani, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, with day-to-day governance of the country as it braces for possible U.S. military strikes and contends with simmering domestic unrest, according to a detailed New York Times investigation published Saturday. The move has concentrated enormous power in the hands of a single political operator, sidelining President Masoud Pezeshkian and redrawing the lines of authority inside the Islamic Republic.
The Man Behind the Curtain
Larijani, a 67-year-old veteran politician born in Najaf, Iraq, to a prominent clerical family, is a former Revolutionary Guards commander, ex-parliament speaker, and onetime nuclear negotiator. He was appointed secretary of the SNSC in August 2025 after Khamenei removed Ali Akbar Ahmadian from the post. Since early January, his portfolio has expanded to encompass crushing nationwide protests, overseeing nuclear negotiations with Washington, liaising with Russia, Qatar, and Oman, and devising wartime contingency plans, according to the Times, which cited six senior Iranian officials and members of the Revolutionary Guards.
Nasser Imani, a conservative analyst close to the government, told the Times in a telephone interview from Tehran that Khamenei has "complete trust" in Larijani and considers him "the man for this sensitive and critical juncture". Larijani's growing centrality was on full display when he met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on January 30 to discuss the crisis, and when he traveled to Oman and Qatar ahead of indirect nuclear talks with the United States in early February.
Succession and Survival
Khamenei, 86, has also issued detailed succession orders and designated multiple layers of backup leadership for key political and military positions in the event he is assassinated in a U.S. or Israeli strike, the Times reported. The contingency planning draws on lessons from the 12-day Iran-Israel war in June 2025, which decimated Iran's senior military command chain within its opening hours. Khamenei's inner circle now includes his top military adviser Maj. Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, parliament speaker Brig. Gen. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf — designated as a de facto deputy to command the armed forces during wartime — and chief of staff Ali Asghar Hejazi. A separate National Defense Council, headed by Adm. Ali Shamkhani, who survived an Israeli assassination attempt last year, was formally activated this month to manage military affairs.
While Larijani is not considered a candidate to become the next supreme leader, as he is not a senior Shiite cleric, his ascent has effectively marginalized Pezeshkian, who admitted publicly in December that he was "powerless" to solve Iran's compounding crises.
A Regime Under Pressure
The restructuring comes as fresh unrest flickers across the country. On Saturday, students at Sharif University and Amir Kabir University in Tehran held protests marking the 40th day since the January massacres, chanting "Death to the dictator" and clashing with pro-government Basij forces. The protests began on December 28 over economic grievances and spiraled into the largest uprising since the 1979 revolution before being crushed with lethal force in a crackdown the U.S. Treasury attributed in part to Larijani, sanctioning him on January 15. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has given Iran a deadline of roughly two weeks to reach a nuclear deal or face military strikes, and U.S. naval forces continue to mass in the region. Larijani told Al Jazeera this month that Iran "is fully prepared but is not seeking war".
Photo Credit: Khamenei.ir, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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