TEHRAN, Iran — Ali Larijani is a well-known figure who has been on the political stage of the Islamic Republic of Iran for decades. Over the years, he has held positions in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; the Ministry of Labor, Cooperatives and Social Welfare; the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology; and the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. He has served as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), head of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting and speaker of parliament, just to name a few.

He is the second son of Ayatollah Haj Mirza Hashem Amoli and the son-in-law of Ayatollah Morteza Motahhari, one of the key theoreticians of the 1979 Islamic Revolution whom the Islamic Republic’s late founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini once described as “the fruit of my life” and “a part of my flesh.” Larijani’s siblings have also played distinguished roles on Iran’s political stage. Sadegh Amoli Larijani, a younger brother of Ali, is the head of Iran’s judiciary — a position that is directly appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Meanwhile, Mohammad Javad Larijani, an older brother, heads the judiciary’s human rights council and serves as one of Khamenei’s top advisers.

In 2005, Ali Larijani ran as a conservative in the presidential elections that first brought Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power, coming in sixth among the seven candidates. Following Ahmadinejad’s victory, Larijani was put in charge of Iran’s nuclear file in the capacity of secretary of the SNSC, replacing Hassan Rouhani. However, as time passed, a rift between Larijani and Ahmadinejad widened until Larijani resigned from his post at the SNSC and ran in the 2008 parliamentary elections instead. After he secured a seat in parliament, Iranian lawmakers unanimously voted for him to become speaker, heading the legislative branch. Larijani managed to repeat this success in the ninth parliament. Today, as Iran is about to hold its tenth round of parliamentary elections since the 1979 Islamic Revolution on Feb. 26, he continues to serve as speaker.

Since the start of his political career, Larijani has stayed on the right of the political spectrum, among the Principlists. Yet when Ahmadinejad’s Principlist government was in power, he found himself at odds with the heads of the two other branches of government. These differences reached a climax in February 2013, the year of Iran’s most recent presidential elections. Although Larijani did not openly express his support for any of the candidates during the June 2013 presidential polls, he quickly found his way to the presidential office after Rouhani won the vote, and congratulated him on his victory. The special emphasis that Larijani has placed on improving relations between the legislative and executive branches of government is evidence of the different approach he has assumed now, compared to his path under Ahmadinejad. Indeed, Larijani has set out to support Rouhani ever since he took office. In fact, this support has been so strong that many hard-liners in parliament have accused Larijani of being one-sided in favor of Rouhani’s administration. During some delicate situations over the past two years, such as the impeachment of Rouhani’s initial minister of science, research and technology and the introduction of new science and interior ministers. In regard to the pursuit of the nuclear negotiations, Larijani has done his best to act in favor of the administration.