Khamenei envoy says Israel, not Iran, seeks to impose its will on Lebanon

In just three weeks, Larijani has traversed the highest corridors of Moscow, Baghdad, and Beirut.

The veteran conservative met Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Moscow late July. This week, met Iraqi leaders, laid a wreath at the site of Qassem Soleimani’s killing, and visited Lebanon amid a push to disarm Tehran-allied Hezbollah.

Once sidelined from presidential politics, the former parliament speaker and IRGC founding member is now back at the centre of power—chairing the new Defence Council and is dispatched abroad to steady alliances and project resilience at a moment of regional strain and looming succession.

The itinerary reflects his rebirth: Moscow for geopolitical depth, Baghdad to reinforce Iran-aligned proxies, Beirut to guard influence amid Western-backed disarmament moves.

Syria lies outside the traditional axis: Assad has fallen, Jolani governs Damascus and IRGC forces have withdrawn, yet some Iranian influence endures through discreet networks and shadow intermediaries.

War mode reloaded

Larijani’s revival is no accident but a deliberate restoration of wartime instincts.

During the Iran–Iraq War, real power shifted from Khamenei’s ceremonial presidency to Majlis Speaker Rafsanjani, the acting Deputy Commander-in-Chief.

The slight was deeply felt by Khamenei, who spent much of his second presidential term at the front, forging bonds with commanders like Soleimani—ties that became the backbone of the Beyt-e Rahbari after he became Supreme Leader in 1989.

Khamenei disappeared from public view during Israeli strikes on Iran in June. The so-called 12-day war, in which many of his key protégés were killed, reinforced Khamenei’s long-held belief in relying on loyal men willing to risk all to preserve him.

That’s where Larijani enters the picture.

Unqualified no more

A former chief nuclear negotiator, he was deemed unfit to run for the presidency as late as 2024. Now, he has been placed at the helm of the Defence Council, positioned as both succession strategist and potential wartime coordinator.

Precedent underpins this orchestration.

In 2011, Ahmadinejad’s 11-day disappearance during a succession standoff left a vacuum between the presidency and the Leader’s office.

As speaker and a member of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Larijani navigated the crisis amid speculation that IRGC-linked governance was filling the gap.

Today, Khamenei is again turning to the tools that preserved the theocracy in its formative years: centralised command, crisis-tested operatives, and the fusion of media, military, and diplomacy.Beirut’s standoff illustrates the stakes.

Lebanon test case

The US plan to disarm Hezbollah—paired with Israeli withdrawal and reconstruction aid—has exposed Lebanon’s political fault lines.

On the eve of Larijani’s arrival, Hezbollah denounced the plan as a “grave sin” and rejected it in cabinet, while the Lebanese army was tasked with drafting legislation to give the state a monopoly on arms.

Former President Michel Aoun and others have called for “arms under state authority” through dialogue, while Hezbollah insists on Israeli withdrawal first, warning it will resist any state compulsion.

Amid these fractures, Larijani’s mission is not the defence of state sovereignty but the calculus of regime survival—Khamenei’s answer from the past to a future laden with uncertainty.

Larijani is not simply a returning statesman but a recycled instrument from the Islamic Republic’s most turbulent chapters, tasked now with holding the line until the next hand—willing or not—seizes the tiller.

Between March 20 last year and now—covering the current Iranian year—"nearly 400 cases involving lawyers and legal experts were sent to disciplinary or judicial bodies for rulings,” he added.

The announcement comes amid a separate high-profile case in Tehran, where 20 people — including six judiciary staff, five lawyers, four notaries and five legal consultants — were arrested this month over bribery and influence-peddling linked to a major judicial complex.

Authorities said the group engaged in “structured bribery, corruption, and manipulation of legal outcomes,” seizing gold, jewelry and foreign currency in related raids.

Abdollahi also said on Wednesday that over 30,000 fugitives with criminal records were also identified and arrested using a traffic-monitoring system.

Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei praised the anti-corruption efforts but questioned whether current measures were enough to deter wrongdoing.

“The Judiciary’s Protection Department has made every effort to ensure there is the least possible corruption within the judicial system. Have our actions been insufficient, or does it have another aspect?” he said on Wednesday.

Iran’s judiciary has faced mounting scrutiny after Transparency International ranked the country 151 out of 180 nations in its 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index — its lowest standing since the ranking began.

The watchdog cited entrenched political control, suppression of dissent, and misuse of public funds.

In May, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei rejected the notion of systemic corruption, calling the system “healthy” while acknowledging corruption as a persistent challenge.

His comments followed US President Donald Trump’s remarks that Iran’s leadership had “stolen their people’s wealth to fund terror and bloodshed abroad.”

“Iran’s defiance of this Council’s resolutions enables the Houthis to escalate regional tensions. Iran’s continued support for the Houthis also poses a threat to the people of Yemen and to freedom of navigation in the Red Sea,” she told the council.

“In that regard, the United States commends Yemeni government-aligned forces for their July seizure of at least 750 tons of Iranian weapons bound for the Houthis. We urge the UN Secretariat to facilitate an inspection of that seizure by the Yemen Panel of Experts as soon as possible.”

The Iran-backed group, which controls around two thirds of Yemen's population in one third of the country, began a maritime blockade in the Red Sea in November 2023, following a call by Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a show of allegiance to Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza.

The Council on Foreign Relations says that "Iran is the Houthis’ primary benefactor, providing them mostly with security assistance, such as weapons transfers, training, and intelligence support".

Following Hamas’ invasion of Israel on October 7 and the subsequent retaliatory bombardment of the Gaza Strip, the group said it would target Israeli-linked vessels and those docking in Israeli ports. It has since, however, targeted several commercial ships, killing multiple civilian mariners.

So frequent were the attacks on US warships that a ceasefire was made between the US and the group, designated a terrorist entity by countries such as the US and Canada, in May.

In recent attacks on the Magic Seas and Eternity C, both ships were destroyed, with at least four seamen killed on Eternity C and several others injured, taking the tally to over 100 ships attacked since the blockade began.

“After hampering rescue efforts, the Houthis then kidnapped and continue to detain at least 11 crew members of the Eternity C, adding to the numbers they have unjustifiably detained,” Shea said, calling for the hostages’ release along with the release of other UN, NGO and diplomatic workers being held by the group.

“The attacks on commercial vessels are a clear demonstration of the Houthis’ destabilizing presence in the region and interference with freedom of navigation. They also demonstrate Houthi responsibility for severe economic, environmental, and security threats against the people of Yemen and the region,” she said.

Retaliatory strikes by Israel, the US, and the UK since the beginning of the blockade have caused significant damage to infrastructure, including ports the allies say were used to transfer weapons from Iran.

In the Tuesday address, Shea also spoke out about the group’s targeting of Israel, a key US ally in the region, saying that the Jewish state retained the right to defend itself.

“As recently as August 8th, the Houthis fired a missile at Israel targeting Ben Gurion Airport. We stand with Israel in its right to self-defense against the Houthis,” she said.

Dozens of projectiles have been fired at Israel during the maritime blockade, including ballistic missiles and UAVs. While most have been intercepted, in May, one narrowly missed the perimeter of the country's main airport, Ben Gurion, in central Israel.

Joseph Aoun criticized certain remarks by Islamic Republic officials and stressed that no group has the right to bear arms or seek foreign support, according to Al Arabiya.

Larijani responded by affirming the Islamic Republic’s support for the decisions of Lebanon’s government.

Saudi website Al Hadath quoted Larijani as telling Aoun that Iran does not interfere in the country’s affairs, while Al Sharq website cited him pledging to strengthen ties with the Lebanese state on all levels.

"Any decision taken by the Lebanese government in consultation with the resistance is respected by us," he said after separate talks with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, whose Amal movement is an ally of Hezbollah.

He said Lebanon should not "mix its enemies with its friends. Your enemy is Israel, your friend is the resistance. I recommend to Lebanon to always appreciate the value of resistance."

By "resistance", Larijani was referring to the Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah, which grew into a so-called state-within-a-state force better armed than the Lebanese army and has repeatedly fought Israel over the decades.

"Iran didn't bring any plan to Lebanon, the US did. Those intervening in Lebanese affairs are those dictating plans and deadlines," said Larijani.

The US submitted a plan through President Donald Trump's envoy to the region, Tom Barrack, setting out the most detailed steps yet for disarming Hezbollah, which has rejected mounting calls to disarm since its devastating war with Israel last year.

During his meeting with the president, Larijani also spoke of deep historical and cultural links, Iran’s Guards-linked Tasnim reported.

“If one day the people of Lebanon are in distress, we in Iran will also feel that pain. We will stand by the dear people of Lebanon in all circumstances,” Tasnim quoted Larijani as saying.

In the same meeting, Larijani said he had renewed his invitation for Aoun to visit Tehran and emphasized Iran’s readiness to help Lebanon in the field of reconstruction, Iranian local media reported.

Messages for Hezbollah and parliament backing

The visit came with messages urging Hezbollah to align with the Lebanese government’s positions, the news site This is Lebanon reported, linking the trip to wider regional arrangements.

According to the outlet, the messages were part of political maneuvers that could be used as bargaining tools, including demands for Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanese territory and the launch of reconstruction in war-damaged areas. It said the aim was to secure the “Hezbollah card” for potential negotiations with the United States.

Founded in 1982 by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Hezbollah has long been Israel’s principal military adversary in Lebanon. Fighting late last year left the group weakened.

The Lebanese cabinet last week ordered the army to disarm Hezbollah, prompting sharp criticism from Tehran.

Ali-Akbar Velayati, senior foreign policy adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, called the disarmament “a dream that won’t come true,” describing it as a policy dictated by Israel and Washington.

Lebanon’s foreign ministry condemned the comments on X as “a flagrant and unacceptable interference in Lebanon’s internal affairs.”

Larijani’s stop in Iraq

Before arriving in Beirut, Larijani traveled to Baghdad, where he signed a security memorandum with the government. According to information obtained by Iran International, one goal was to encourage Shi’ite factions to push for parliamentary approval of a Popular Mobilization Forces bill.

The PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi, is an umbrella organization of Shi’ite militias formed under the direct supervision of Qasem Soleimani, the late commander of the IRGC Quds Force.

On Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani met Larijani and, according to Arab media, expressed support for US-Iran dialogue.

Iraqi sources told Iran International the tour reflected Tehran’s concern over Baghdad yielding to US pressure on the PMF.

“The water crisis in Iran has gone far beyond the point of urgency and requires absolute full attention,” said Issa Bozorgzadeh, Iran's water industry spokesman.

“Subsidence is a direct consequence of excessive groundwater extraction, driven by poor management and lack of coordination,” Bozorgzadeh told the news website Payam-e Ma.

In May, a member of parliament warned that over-extraction of groundwater had caused land subsidence in 30 provinces, and that 66 percent of the country’s wetlands had turned into dust storm sources.

Environmental activists have long cautioned that Iran’s sprawling capital — home to nearly 10 million people — is highly vulnerable to water shortages due to inefficient infrastructure, leaky pipes and limited investment in modern conservation technologies.

Bozorgzadeh said Tehran’s municipality controls about 50 drinkable wells that should be connected to the city’s potable water network, while the rest should be sealed to help balance the aquifer.

Soudabeh Najafi, head of Tehran City Council’s Health Committee, said in May that subsidence in Tehran is estimated at 24 to 25 centimeters annually.

Tehran water authorities will cut supplies for 12 hours to households deemed heavy consumers who ignore three official warnings, a senior utility official said on Tuesday, as the capital faces its worst drought in more than a century.

Iran’s meteorological organization says the country has faced an almost continuous drought for more than two decades, with rainfall sharply reduced this year and snowpack levels at historic lows.