‘Expecting to be a martyr’, Iran Supreme Leader Khamenei has made a transition plan if US attacks. And this man could be the dealmaker

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is ‘expecting to be a martyr’ in the event of a US attack on the Islamic Republic, and has made transition arrangements for the regime's survival, assigning some key officials to possibly make a deal with the Trump administration eventually. For this task, he has selected a group of insiders, the most prominent of them being Ali Larijani, the veteran politician currently heading the Supreme National Security Council, according to a report in the New York Times that cited both experts and Iran’s political and military insiders. Larijani, who was the main Iranian negotiator on the nuclear deal with the West, could be the main person, or one of the key people, who could make a deal with Trump to ensure the regime’s survival and transition.

Who is Ali Larijani?

Ali Larijani is at the forefront of plans to manage Iran during a potential war with the US. Following the 12-day war with Israel in June 2025, Khamenei appointed Larijani as the secretary of the National Security Council and created a new National Defence Council, headed by Adm. Ali Shamkhani, to manage military affairs during wartime.

Larijani is a 67-year-old veteran politician hailing from a political and religious family. The top national security official has effectively been running the country, according to the report, and was assigned by Khamenei to ensure that Iran endures military attacks and targeted killings.

Larijani, a former commander in the Revolutionary Guards Corps, was in charge of crushing the recent protests demanding the end of Islamic rule.

Amid recent tensions, he has been engaging in diplomatic parleys with Russia, Qatar and Oman, even as he oversees nuclear negotiations with the US.

Succession: What is Ali Khamenei doing for the transition of power?

According to the report, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is operating on the basis that US military strikes are inevitable and imminent.

He has been distributing power and preparing the state for both succession and war, aware that succession may come as a consequence of war.

In a series of directives, Khamenei named four layers of succession for each of the military command and government roles that he personally appoints, the NYT report said.

“He told everyone in leadership roles to name up to four replacements and delegated responsibilities to a tight circle of confidants to make decisions in case communications with him are disrupted or he is killed,” the report added.

Larijani and associates would ensure that the Islamic Republic survives not only American and Israeli bombs, but also any assassination attempts on its top leadership, including on Khamenei himself, according to the report.

Who are in Khamenei’s trusted circle?

Other than Larijani, the supreme leader’s inner circles include former commander-in-chief of the Iran Guards, Maj Gen Yahya Rahim Safavi, and Parliament Speaker Brig Gen Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who would be the de facto deputy to command the armed forces during war, and his chief of staff, the cleric Ali Asghar Hejazi.

Vali Nasr, an expert on Iran at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, said Khamenei “is expecting to be a martyr and thinking, this is my system and legacy, and I will stand until the end”. He is distributing power and preparing the state for the next big thing, both succession and war, aware that succession may come as a consequence of war, Nasr told NYT.

Who will make a deal with the US if the regime falls?

In case of a Venezuela-like situation in which the vice-president made a deal with the US after the ouster of Nicolas Maduro, Larijani would be the top official to negotiate such a deal for Iran.

He is followed by General Ghalibaf, the Parliament Speaker, and Hassan Rouhani, a former president. The current president of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, is largely sidelined and resigned to his fate, according to the report.