TEHRAN, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Ali Larijani, a former speaker of Iran's parliament, has been appointed as the secretary of the country's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Tuesday.
He was appointed to the position in a decree by Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, who chairs the council, the report said.
Larijani served as the speaker of the Iranian parliament from 2008 to 2020.
Also a senior advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he has been a member of the country's Expediency Discernment Council since 2020.
He has replaced Ali-Akbar Ahmadian, who has served as the SNSC's secretary since May 2023.
In a report on Friday, Fars said Ahmadian "will possibly become responsible for pursuing a number of Iran's special and strategic cases."
The SNSC on Sunday approved the establishment of the country's defense council, which would be responsible for "reviewing in a centralized manner the (country's) defense plans as well as the improvement of the Iranian armed forces' capabilities."
The council is headed by the president, and comprises the heads of the Iranian government's three branches, namely the executive, judiciary and legislative branches, as well as armed forces' commanders and certain ministries. ■
