Who is Ali Shamkhani, the Iranian official allegedly killed in attacks between the United States and Israel? | Explanatory news

EXPLAINER

The former defense minister and secretary of the Iranian Defense Council participated in the nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran.

Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Defense Council and close advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was reportedly killed in Israeli and US attacks on Iran.

An Israeli military spokesman said he was among several senior Iranian officials killed on Saturday.

There was no immediate comment from Tehran on his fate.

The 70-year-old was overseeing negotiations between the United States and Iran over the Iranian nuclear program, the latest round of which concluded on Friday.

“If the main issue of the negotiations is not to build nuclear weapons by Iran, this is in compliance with a religious decree issued by Iran’s leader and the country’s defense doctrine, and an immediate agreement is within our reach,” Shamkhani said Thursday.

Shamkhani had also been the target of an Israeli attack in June 2025, during the 12-day war between Iran and Israel. There were reports that he had died in the attack, but it was later confirmed that he had survived. He was pulled from the rubble of his home and suffered serious injuries.

He was recently named secretary of Iran’s Defense Council, which was created after the war and coordinates Iran’s defense and national security policies while mobilizing resources to address threats.

In January, he warned that Iran’s response to any US military action would be “immediate, total and unprecedented, and would target the heart of Tel Aviv and all those who support the aggressor.”

He headed the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) for a decade until 2023, making him the second longest-serving security chief since 1979, after former president Hassan Rouhani, who was secretary of the SNSC for almost 16 years.

Born in Ahvaz, Khuzestan, Iran, Shamkhani and his family moved to Los Angeles, United States, when he finished school. He later returned to Iran, where he studied engineering.

During the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, Shamkhani was commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and became commander of Iran’s two navies, the IRGC Navy and the Iranian Navy.

He was defense minister from 1997 to 2005, and was the first Iranian defense official to visit Saudi Arabia since the revolution. He also came third in the 2001 presidential election before returning to his post as defense minister.