National Security Council (Iran)

Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) issued the official text accepting the two-week Ceasefire pause on 8 April 2026 with language framing it as 'undeniable, historical and crushing defeat' for the United States, and attributed the decision to Mojtaba Khamenei's 'prudence and approval' in the first decisional engagement attributed to the new Supreme Leader since the war began. Its recent texts have split three ways from the statements of Israel's prime minister and Pakistan's prime minister on whether Lebanon falls inside the ceasefire, exposing the gap between SNSC framing and what Iran's other institutional actors will commit to. On 30 April (Day 64) the SNSC approved the Internet Pro tiered-access framework, restoring selective connectivity to approved businesses, doctors, and academics while the general public remained at approximately 2% of pre-war connectivity. Iran's nursing organisation immediately and publicly refused the scheme, describing it as discriminatory — the first professional-body break with an SNSC framework during the blackout .

Established under the 1989 revised constitution (Article 176), the SNSC replaced the earlier Defence Council. It is chaired by the president, with membership drawn from the heads of all three government branches, military chiefs, IRGC commanders and the Supreme Leader's personal representatives. Binding decisions require the Leader's final ratification, the mechanism that turned Ali Khamenei's death on 28 February and Mojtaba's reported incapacitation into a structural paralysis rather than a transitional gap. Secretary Ali Larijani was killed by Israel in an overnight strike on Tehran around 18 March 2026, removing both the body's public voice and its institutional memory of prior negotiations. No public successor has been named.

The SNSC's coherence as an Iranian authority has collapsed into the IRGC military council led by Ahmad Vahidi, which controls access to Mojtaba Khamenei, blocks President Pezeshkian's meeting requests, and has directed operations outside central civilian authority since early April. The body's statements still carry official weight abroad: foreign ministries, the IMF and the IAEA continue to treat SNSC texts as the authoritative Iranian position. Inside Iran, the gap between what the SNSC signs and what the IRGC does on the ground — and now between what the SNSC approves on internet policy and what professional bodies will accept — has defined the post-Ceasefire period.

By mid-May 2026, the SNSC operates as one of four parallel Iranian institutions publicly endorsing the same Hormuz toll architecture: alongside the IRGC, the PGSA, and the Majlis National Security Committee chaired by Ebrahim Azizi. The convergence of all four on the same toll-sovereignty posture makes any dismantling of the architecture contingent on a floor vote — no single institution can unwind it unilaterally.

The SNSC remains constitutionally the apex security body; established under the 1989 revised constitution (Article 176), it is chaired by the president and requires Supreme Leader ratification for binding decisions. Secretary Ali Larijani was killed in an Israeli strike on 18 March 2026; no successor has been publicly named. The IRGC military council led by Ahmad Vahidi has captured de facto operational authority since April 2026. SNSC texts retain diplomatic currency: foreign ministries, the IMF and IAEA continue treating SNSC statements as Iran's authoritative position, even as the gap between SNSC-signed frameworks and IRGC ground actions widens.