Ali Larijani in His Own Words

Ali Larijani, the former secretary of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Supreme National Security Council killed on March 17, had emerged after the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28, 2026, as one of the most powerful surviving Iranian regime figures, with analysts assessing that he had "effectively been running” Iran. Larijani was revered by his admirers because he combined military service in the Iran-Iraq war with theological and intellectual training at the central seminary in Qom. Often described in Western media as a "moderate" or "pragmatist," Larijani's own words paint a different picture.

Holocaust Denial and Distortion

At the 2007 Munich Security Conference, Larijani questioned the historical accuracy of the Holocaust by saying he was "neither for, nor against" the idea that the Holocaust had really occurred, saying it was an "open question." He then added, "I think there is an overreaction regarding the Holocaust that I cannot understand," prompting the German outlet Der Spiegel to run the headline: "Larijani denies the Holocaust in Munich." In doing so, Larijani was defending the then-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Holocaust denial at the time. Two years later, at the 2009 Munich Security Conference, Larijani again defended Ahmadinejad's Holocaust denial. 

Larijani’s views placed him within the regime's broader pattern of Holocaust denial and distortion, which has included hosting the International Holocaust Cartoon Contest and Khamenei's repeated public questioning of the historical record.

Dehumanizing Language

In 2013, Larijani dubbed Israel the "Zionist plague" at a conference in Tehran. That same year, he declared Israel "a cancerous tumor in the region." This language—characterizing the Jewish state as a sickness to be eradicated—draws on classical antisemitic tropes and echoes Khamenei's repeated description of Israel as a "cancerous growth."

Developing Antisemitic Media

From 1994 to 2004, Larijani served as head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), the regime's state media conglomerate sanctioned in 2013 and 2022 by the United States for its role in trampling dissent, spreading disinformation, and being an accessory to human rights violations, including broadcasting forced confessions of dissidents and foreign hostages. Under his leadership, IRIB established Sahar TV, an Arabic network which was banned in France for airing antisemitic and pro-Hezbollah programming.

Among Sahar TV’s output was the TV series “Zahra's Blue Eyes.” According to Iran’s Quds News Network, the plot involved a “high-ranking official of the Zionist regime” who steals the organs of “children in Palestinian camps” to transplant into his genetically abnormal son. The series ends with the kidnapping of a Palestinian girl, Zahra, “so that by blinding her beautiful eyes, [the Zionist regime] can commit other injustices and crimes against the oppressed people of Palestine.”

IRIB also operates Hispan TV, which a major ADL report, published in February 2026, showed to be “the world's leading platform for peddling antisemitic hate and disseminating anti-Israel prejudice and incitement across Latin America and the wider Spanish-speaking world."

Open Support for Hamas and Hezbollah

Larijani openly championed the Islamic Republic's material support for designated terrorist organizations. In February 2013, he told interviewers, “We explicitly support Hamas and Hezbollah and the oppressed and Muslim people of Palestine, and we do not hide this support... we even send them weapons... during the 8-day war the people of Gaza dealt Israel a blow to the mouth with this military aid." A year earlier, he stated that the Islamic Republic is "honored to provide the Palestinian people with military aid, while all Arabic countries do is hold meetings."

In 2008, responding to then-President-elect Barack Obama, Larijani said, "We are proud of supporting Hezbollah since they are defending their homeland and you are wrong in calling them terrorists."

In August 2025, while Lebanese civilian authorities were advocating for Hezbollah’s disarmament, Larijani traveled to Beirut to assert the Iranian regime’s influence in Lebanon and encourage Hezbollah not to disarm. In September 2025, he attended the first anniversary commemorating the funeral of assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Wartime Threats and Antisemitic Tropes

Following the launch of U.S.-Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic of Iran on February 28, 2026, Larijani posted on X:

"We will make the Zionist criminals and the shameless Americans regret their actions. The brave soldiers and the great nation of Iran will deliver an unforgettable lesson to the hellish international oppressors."

On March 2, 2026, he accused President Trump of falling into an “Israeli trap” and wrote in an English-language post on X: “Trump has betrayed ‘America First’ to adopt ‘Israel First,’” echoing the antisemitic notion of global Jewish control.

On March 16, 2026, Larijani wrote that "Iran is continuing along the path of resistance in confronting the 'Great Satan' and the 'Lesser Satan,' namely America and Israel.”

Conclusion

Throughout more than three decades of public life, Larijani promoted the Iranian regime’s hateful narratives and policies, including distorting the Holocaust, dehumanizing Israel, openly championing the arming of Hamas and Hezbollah, working to prevent Hezbollah's disarmament, building the regime's state propaganda apparatus into a vehicle for antisemitic broadcasting, and issuing wartime threats invoking well-worn antisemitic tropes. His record reflects the central role that antisemitism and support for anti-Israel terrorist proxies play in the Islamic Republic’s statecraft.