The scion of a leading clerical family with brothers who rose to high positions after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Larijani was seen as canny and pragmatic but always fiercely determined to uphold Iran’s theocratic system of government.A Revolutionary Guard Corps commander during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, he became head of Iran’s national broadcaster before stints running the Supreme National Security Council either side of his membership of parliament, where he was speaker for 12 years.His role as the ultimate insider in Ali Khamenei’s Iran gave him responsibilities across a wide portfolio that included critical nuclear negotiations with the West, managing Tehran’s regional...