Supreme National Security Council

Supreme National Security Council (SNSC; Persian: شورای عالی امنیت ملی Showrāye Āliye Amniyate Mellī also Supreme Council for National Security) is the national security council of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The current secretary of the Supreme National Security Council is Ali Akbar Ahmadian. He was appointed to position of secretary by President Ebrahim Raisi on 22 May 2023. The council was formed for the protection and support of national interests and Islamic revolution and territorial integrity and national sovereignty of the country. This institution was founded during the 1989 revision of the constitution.[1]

Supreme National Security Council

شورای عالی امنیت ملی
Leadership
Chairman
Secretary
Ali Akbar Ahmadian
since 22 May 2023
Seats23
Meeting place
Tehran, Iran

The responsibilities of the council are defined by the constitution as:

  1. Determining the defense and national security policies of the country within the framework of general policies determined by the Leader.
  2. Coordination of political activities, intelligence, social, cultural and economic fields relating to general policies of defense and national security.
  3. Exploitation of material and intellectual resources of the country for facing the internal and external threats.

Composition

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This National Security Council is mandated by Article 176 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran to be presided over by the president of the country.[2] The Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei selects the secretary of the Supreme council.[3] The decisions of the Council are effective after the confirmation by the Supreme Leader.[4] Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) are at the top of the foreign policy decisions process.

Nuclear policy

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Supreme National Security Council formulates the country's nuclear policy. The nuclear policies formulated by the council would become effective if they are confirmed by the Supreme Leader.[5] The secretary of the Supreme council was the chief nuclear negotiator of Iran until 5 September 2013 when responsibility for nuclear talks was assigned to the ministry of foreign affairs.[6]

List of secretaries

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Secretary Tenure Political position Appointed by Supreme Leader
Name Picture Took office Left office
1 Hassan Rouhani   12 October 1989[7] 15 August 2005 Right wing Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Ali Khamenei
Mohammad Khatami
2 Ali Larijani   15 August 2005 20 October 2007 Principlist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
3 Saeed Jalili   20 October 2007 10 September 2013
4 Ali Shamkhani   10 September 2013 22 May 2023 Reformist Hassan Rouhani
Ebrahim Raisi
5 Ali Akbar Ahmadian   22 May 2023 Principlist Ebrahim Raisi
Masoud Pezeshkian

Members

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As of 2024, following members are:[8]

# Appointer Ex officio member Current officeholder Position in the Supreme Council
1 Popular election President Masoud Pezeshkian Chairman
2 Indirect election Speaker of the Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf Member
3 Supreme Leader Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i
4 Secretary of the Guardian Council Ahmad Jannati
5 Supreme Leader Representatives Ali Akbar Ahmadian Secretary (appointed by President)
6 Saeed Jalili Member
7 Chief of the General Staff MG Mohammad Bagheri
8 Chief of the Army MG Abdolrahim Mousavi
9 Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps MG Hossein Salami
10 Chief of the General Command of the Law Enforcement BG Ahmad-Reza Radan
11 President Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref
12 Minister of Energy Abbas Aliabadi
13 Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi
14 Minister of Finance Abdolnaser Hemmati
15 Minister of Defence BG Aziz Nasirzadeh
16 Minister of Information Sattar Hashemi
17 Minister of the Interior BG Eskandar Momeni
18 Minister of Intelligence Esmaeil Khatib
19 Minister of Science Hossein Simaee Sarraf
20 Head of Plan and Budget Organization Hamid Pourmohammadi
21 Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami
22 Permanent Representative of Iran to the United Nations Amir Saeed Iravani
23 Minister related with the Subject of Agenda of the Council Other Cabinet Ministers Temporary member

See also

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References and notes

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  1. ^ Islamic Republic of Iran, The Supreme National Security Council (SNSC)
  2. ^ § 1 of Article 176
  3. ^ ISNA - 08-15-2005 - 84/5/24 - سرويس: / سياسي / شماره خبر: 569141 Archived 2007-10-24 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ § 5 of Article 176
  5. ^ Article 176
  6. ^ "Iran's Rouhani shifts responsibility for nuclear talks". BBC. 5 September 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  7. ^ "Chronology July 16, 1989–October 15, 1989". Middle East Journal. 44 (1): 114. Winter 1990. JSTOR 4328058.
  8. ^ Iranian Supreme National Security Council Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine

Further reading

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  • Wege, Carl Anthony. "Iranian intelligence organizations." International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence 10.3 (1997): 287-298.
  • Wege, Carl Anthony. "Iranian Counterintelligence." International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence 32.2 (2019): 272-294.
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35°47′02″N 51°31′51″E / 35.7840°N 51.5308°E / 35.7840; 51.5308