Ali Larijani Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About Ali Larijani

• His parents had Iranian Persian roots. They lived in Amol, in Mazandaran province.

• In 1931, his parents moved to Najaf during the rule of Reza Shah Pahlavi.

• Many members of his family, including Ali’s father, Mirza Hashem Amoli, were then deported to Kurdish cities Bukan and Sardasht. They lived there for many years before returning to northern Iran in 1961.

• After completing his schooling, Ali Larijani wanted to pursue a degree in computer science, but changed his mind after consulting Morteza Motahhari.

• Apart from being a politician and a former military person, he is also an author. Larijani has written books on Immanuel Kant, Saul Kripke, and David Lewis.

• He teaches at the School of Literature and Humanities at the University of Tehran.

• Ali Larijani once served as a commander for the Revolutionary Guards and as deputy minister of labour and social affairs.

• Later, he was appointed as deputy minister of information and communications technology.

  

  An old picture of Ali Larijani

• Ali Larijani served as a member of Hashemi Rafsanjani’s cabinet in Motalefeh, a political party in Iran, from 1992 to 1994.

• In March 1994, he started working as the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. He replaced Mohammad Hashemi Rafsanjani. He held the position until 21 July 2004.

• In 1995, he completed his PhD thesis on Kant’s Philosophy of Mathematics. His doctoral advisor was Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, an Iranian conservative and principlist politician and former chairman of the Parliament.

• In August 2004, Ali Larijani was appointed as the security adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

• During the 2005 elections, he contested for a presidential seat. He was the main candidate for the conservative alliance. After the elections, he was ranked sixth and received 5.94% of the votes.

  

  During Khatami’s presidency, Ali Larijani played a significant role in airing programs Identity and Light on state TV, which were instrumental in exerting pressure on writers, intellectuals, and developmental politicians

• He received support from other conservatives and various other groups, such as the Islamic Society of Engineers.

• The conservative Council for Coordination of the Forces of the Revolution chose him as their final candidate.

• Reportedly, Ali Larijani was the least popular of the three conservative candidates. He was behind Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

• He once led efforts on the 25-year strategic deal with China worth billions.

• In 2005, Ali Larijani was appointed as the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, a group that makes nuclear and other policies for Khamenei. He replaced Hassan Rouhani.

  

  Ali Larijani with Hassan Rouhani

• While serving as a chief nuclear negotiator, he disagreed with Iran’s president on how to negotiate with the Europeans. He focused on a practical approach.

• On 25 April 2007, Ali Larijani stated in a media conference that he expected new ideas from EU official Javier Solana to break the halt over Tehran’s nuclear program and UN demands.

• On 22 October 2012, he visited the Iran University of Science and Technology, where, during a question-and-answer session with students, Larijani claimed that he did not congratulate Mir Hossein Mousavi.
  

  Ali Larijani while delivering a lecture

• In March 2016, a poll by Information and Public Opinion Solutions LLC (iPOS) among Iranians gave Larijani 45% approval and 34% disapproval. This resulted in a +11% net popularity rating, in which 11% of voters did not recognise his name.

• In May 2016, Ali Larijani was appointed as the speaker of the new Majlis.

• In 2016, during the elections, he led the Followers of Wilayat faction and contested as an independent candidate with the support of the reformist party List of Hope.

• In May 2021, he announced that he would contest for president in the 2021 Iranian presidential election. However, the Guardian Council disqualified him, which surprised both conservatives and reformists.

• After that, the council did not give any reasons for barring him.

• Reportedly, his long history as a top insider since the 1979 revolution made the decision unexpected.

• In May 2024, Ali Larijani applied again for the 2024 presidential election but was again rejected by the Guardian Council.

• In March 2025, US President Donald Trump sent a letter to Iran to restart conversations on nuclear weapons.​

• After that, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei criticised some bullying governments which push talks to impose their demands.

  

  Ali Larijani with Ali Khamenei

• In March 2025, Ali Larijani claimed in a media conversation that Iran would produce more nuclear weapons if attacked by the US, Israel, and their supporters.​

• On 13 June 2025, the Iran-Israel war started. Israel attacked the nuclear sites of Iran.​

• On 22 June 2025, the US Air Force and Navy hit Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan nuclear buildings of Iran.​

• On 5 August 2025, President Masoud Pezeshkian appointed Larijani as the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.

• According to some international media outlets, Ali Larijani has led Iran and its activities since January 2026. He played an important role in imposing several legal or authoritative restrictions on protests against Islamic rule.

• Iranian scholar Mehdi Moslem called him a member of Motalefeh and part of the traditional right.

• Payam Mohseni, the Director of the Project on Shi’ism and Global Affairs at Harvard Divinity School, called Larijani a leader in the theocratic right camp, along with Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi and Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani.

• Ali Larijani is described as a centre-right politician who left the Principlist camp, became conservative, and then moderate.

• His close partners include interior minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, parliament spokesman Behrouz Nemati, and research centre head Kazem Jalali.

• The Larijani family is often called the ‘Kennedys of Iran’ as his brothers have held important positions in Iran’s judiciary and religious organisations.

• In February 2026, after Ali Khamenei‘s death, Ali Larijani was appointed temporarily to run Iran and handle war decisions.

• Ali Larijani likes travelling to distant places, reading books, and hiking in his free time.
  

  Ali Larijani during a trip