Saeed Jalili is an Iranian hardliner and former member of the IRGC. Regime insiders were thought to want to appoint him to replace the assassinated Ali Larijani at the head of the Supreme National Security Council. He is described as a more ideological figure than Larijani. His appointment would signal an Iran less likely to agree to any deal to end the war with America and Israel, and more likely to pursue nuclear weapons.
An Iranian journalist recently arrived in Britain said of the hardliners' preference for Jalili: "They will substitute Larijani with a madman who prefers martyrdom and will go to the end." He won 13.5m votes at the last presidential election.
Neckties strangle clear thinking.