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Ali Larijani reappointed secretary of Iran's top security body

Ali Larijani reappointed secretary of Iran's top security body

Straits Times05-08-2025
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FILE PHOTO: Ali Larijani, former chairman of the parliament of Iran, attends a press conference after meeting with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut, Lebanon November 15, 2024. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani/File Photo
DUBAI - Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has appointed Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to the supreme leader, as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Tuesday.
The appointment takes place amid institutional changes following a 12-day air war with Israel in June, the Islamic Republic's most severe security challenge since a war with Saddam Hussein's Iraq in the 1980s.
A former member of the Revolutionary Guards, Larijani held the same top security position from 2005 to 2007 and was parliamentary speaker from 2008 to 2020. He now replaces Ali Akbar Ahmadian, who had become SNSC secretary in 2023.
On Sunday, Iran revived an Iraq war-era Defence Council to review defence plans and enhance the capabilities of its armed forces in a centralised manner.
Both the Defence Council and the SNSC are headed by Iran's president. REUTERS
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