Supreme National Security Council
Supreme National Security Council (SNSC; Persian: شورای عالی امنیت ملی Showrāye Āliye Amniyate Mellī) is the national security council of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the current secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of which is Rear Admiral Upper Half Ali Shamkhani. He was appointed to position of secretary by the president Hassan Rouhani On 10 September 2013. 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]
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The responsibilities of the council are defined by the constitution as:
- Determining the defense and national security policies of the country within the framework of general policies determined by the Leader.
- Coordination of political activities, intelligence, social, cultural and economic fields relating to general policies of defense and national security.
- Exploitation of material and intellectual resources of the country for facing the internal and external threats.
Composition
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 president 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
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
№ | Secretary | Tenure | Political Position | Appointed by | Supreme Leader | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Picture | Took office | Left Office | ||||
1 | Hassan Rouhani | 14 October 1989 | 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 | Incumbent | Reformist | Hassan Rouhani |
Members
As of 2019, following members are:[7]
# | Appointer | Ex officio member | current officeholder | Position in the Supreme Council |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Popular election | President | Hassan Rouhani | Chairman |
2 | Indirect election | Speaker of the Parliament | Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf | Member |
3 | Supreme Leader | Chief Justice | Ebrahim Raisi | |
4 | Supreme Leader Representatives | Secretary (Appointed by President) | ||
5 | Saeed Jalili | Member | ||
6 | Chief of the General Staff | |||
7 | Chief of the Army | |||
8 | Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps | |||
9 | President | Minister of Foreign Affairs | Mohammad Javad Zarif | |
10 | Minister of the Interior | Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli | ||
11 | Minister of Intelligence | Mahmoud Alavi | ||
12 | Head of Management and Planning Organization | Mohammad Bagher Nobakht | ||
13 | Minister related with the Subject of Agenda of the Council | Other Cabinet Ministers | Temporary member |
References and notes
- Islamic Republic of Iran, The Supreme National Security Council (SNSC)
- § 1 of Article 176
- ISNA - 08-15-2005 - 84/5/24 - سرويس: / سياسي / شماره خبر: 569141 Archived 2007-10-24 at the Wayback Machine
- § 5 of Article 176
- Article 176
- "Iran's Rouhani shifts responsibility for nuclear talks". BBC. 5 September 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
- Iranian Supreme National Security Council Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
Further reading
- Wege, Carl Anthony. "Iranian intelligence organizations." International Journal of Intelligence and Counter Intelligence 10.3 (1997): 287-298.
- Wege, Carl Anthony. "Iranian Counterintelligence." International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence 32.2 (2019): 272-294.