Veteran Iranian politician Ali Larijani, who said on Sunday a temporary leadership council would be set up after an airstrike killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reemerged last year as one of the most powerful figures in the security hierarchy.

He has been managing a broad portfolio, from nuclear negotiations to Tehran¡¯s regional ties to its violent suppression of internal unrest.

An establishment insider who hails from one of the country¡¯s leading clerical families, Larijani had been overseeing Iran¡¯s efforts to reach a nuclear deal with the United States ¡ª just a month after Washington sanctioned him in January for allegedly directing a deadly crackdown on anti-government protests.