Saeed Jalili
Saeed Jalili is an Iranian politician and diplomat, who was secretary of the Supreme National Security Council from 2007 to 2013. He is currently a member of the Expediency Discernment Council, and is the former nuclear negotiator for Iran.
He was previously deputy foreign minister for European and American Affairs, and an unsuccessful candidate in the June 2013 presidential election, placing third. He also ran in 2021, but withdrew in favour of Ebrahim Raisi before the election. Jalili contested the 2024 presidential election but was defeated by Masoud Pezeshkian in a runoff election.
Jalili was a soldier in the Iran–Iraq War and had lost part of his right leg during the Siege of Basra. Upon this event, he earned the title of "Living Martyr". He holds a PhD in political science, and teaches the "Prophet's diplomacy" at the Imam Sadiq University. In 2009, Jalili was named as one of the 500 most influential people in the Muslim world. His tenure as chief negotiator on Iran's nuclear program was characterized by an uncompromising approach.
Jalili is known for his staunch hardline positions and confrontational rhetoric against the West, while pushing for stronger relations with Russia and China. Backed by the fundamentalist Paydari Front, He attributes Iran's economic troubles to international sanctions and rejects social liberalization. This has earned him significant influence as well as discomfort among the more pragmatic factions within the Iranian establishment.
Personal life and education
Jalili was born in 1965 in Mashhad, in northeastern Iran to a Kurdish father and a Turkish mother. His father, Mohammad Hasan Muallem, was the principal of Nawab Safavi Primary School in Mashhad. He married with Fatemeh Sajjadi, a doctor of internal medicine, in 1992. They have one child, a son named Sajjad. Jalili was a resident of Karaj until 2004. Vahid, Jalili's brother, is one of the fundamentalist cultural activists. Jalili is familiar with English and Arabic.He holds a PhD in Political Science from Imam Sadeq University and his doctoral thesis entitled "The Paradigm of Political Thought of Islam in the Qu’ran" was later developed into a book by the name of "The Foreign Policy of the Prophet." After graduating, he served in the Iran–Iraq War as a member of the Basij volunteers of the Revolutionary Guards. During the fighting, he was injured severely, losing the lower portion of his right leg in 1986. He has taught political science since 2000 in different intervals at Imam Sadeq University.
Career
Following the war, Jalili began working as a university lecturer at his alma mater. In 1989 Jalili began working at the ministry of foreign affairs in addition to his teaching post. From 1995 to 1996 he served as director of the inspection office at the ministry. In 2001, he was appointed senior director of policy planning in the office of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Jalili was also made a member of the Supreme National Security Council in 2002.Following the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the presidency in August 2005, Jalili was appointed deputy foreign minister for European and American affairs. He was in office until October 2007. During the same period, he also served as an advisor to Ahmedinejad. On 20 October 2007, Jalili replaced Ali Larijani as secretary of the council and became responsible for international negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. Jalili's term as secretary of the council ended on 10 September 2013 when Ali Shamkhani was appointed to the post. Immediately after leaving the office, he was appointed by the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to the Expediency Council as a member.
Activities and views
Jalili is a leading figure of the "neo-principalist" group in the Iranian political scene and a protégé of Mojtaba Khamenei. A 2008 leaked diplomatic cable described how a European Union official who met Jalili call him "a true product of the Iranian revolution." Mohammad Marandi, a professor at Tehran University, described Jalili as a tough negotiator who "believes strongly in Iran's nuclear program and its sovereign rights. He's not the sort of person to give major concessions." Jalili describes himself as a strong believer in "velayat-e faqih", the central principle of Iran’s political system, which holds that a senior Islamic jurist should have the highest authority in both political and religious matters.In an interview with The Boston Globe in 2006, Jalili defended Iran's plans to develop nuclear energy, noting that, under the Shah and before the Iranian Revolution, US companies had contracts to build nuclear power plants in Iran.
Saeed Jalili is known for his loyalty to Khamenei and his close adherence to the doctrine of velayat-e faqih, which places the Supreme Leader at the apex of political authority.
As part of his role as Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Jalili coordinated Iran's regional policies, including engagement with the Islamic Republic’s proxies. He is reported to have met with the leadership of Hezbollah in Lebanon, held talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and hosted senior officials from Hamas in Tehran as part of Iran’s broader regional outreach. In an interview with Kuwait’s Al-Seyassah newspaper, Lebanese MP Fadi Karam of the Lebanese Forces party stated that Jalili’s visit to Lebanon was intended to express support for Hezbollah and the Syrian government.