On the 14th day of the ongoing conflict, Ali Larijani, the formidable security chief of Iran’s regime, directed his verbal artillery towards Donald Trump from the heart of Tehran. Larijani, aged 67, participated in the annual Quds Day march, and amid the chaos of an explosion in Ferdowsi Square, he addressed state media cameras with a defiant message, asserting that America was destined for defeat.

Larijani expressed his views with conviction, declaring, “The attacks they carry out stem from fear and desperation. The issue with Trump is his failure to grasp the wisdom and resolve of the Iranian nation.” All around him, the air was charged with chants of “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.”

As the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Larijani didn’t stop there. He continued his tirade on the social media platform X, directing sharp words at President Trump. He tweeted, “Trump talks of seeking a swift victory. While initiating a war is simple, it cannot be won with mere tweets. We will persist until you regret this grave misjudgment.”

Around him chants erupted of ‘Death to Israel’ and ‘Death to America.’

Larijani, the strongman head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, continued his threats with a stream of invective on X aimed at President Trump.

Ali Larijani’s daughter Fatemeh arrived in the US in 2017 and is a cancer doctor

‘Trump says he is looking for a speedy victory. While starting a war is easy, it cannot be won with a few tweets. We will not relent until making you sorry for this grave miscalculation,’ he wrote.

Amid such anti-American grandstanding, it may come as surprise to some – including to those chanting around him and his X followers – how closely linked Larijani’s family is to the US, and to Canada and the UK.

Indeed, it may also explain why some in the West had previously seen him as a potentially pragmatic figure the US could deal with in the wake of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s death on the opening day of the war.

Larijani is one of five brothers dubbed the ‘Kennedys of Iran’ who have reached senior roles in the Iranian regime.

He has relatives in Canada and the UK but, perhaps most surprisingly, his daughter has spent the best part of a decade in the US.

Joe Biden’s administration issued Larijani’s daughter with a green card in 2021

An explosion caused by a projectile impact after Iran launched missiles into Israel

Fatemeh Ardeshir Larijani, 40, graduated from Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2012.

In 2017 she moved to the US and began studying at University Hospitals in Cleveland Ohio, going on to earn a Master of Science in Clinical Research at Indiana University.

According to public records, reviewed by the Daily Mail, she held a student medical license in Ohio from July 29, 2017 to June 23, 2022.

She was then fully licensed as a physician in Indiana between June 2020 and June 2021.

In 2021 she obtained a green card under the Joe Biden administration.

Then, she obtained a full physician’s license in Georgia in 2023, which is active until August 31, 2026.

She became an assistant professor in Emory University’s Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology in Atlanta, where she specialized in treating patients with lung cancer.

According to a lung cancer medical website her clinical focus was on thoracic oncology. 

The Emory University Hospital where Larijani’s daughter was a doctor treating cancer patients

Ali Larijani, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, has issued threats to Trump on X

The US took out much of Iran’s leadership on day one but Larijani survived

‘In her role there, she is part of a multidisciplinary healthcare team that deploys state-of-the-art treatment protocols to achieve the best possible outcomes for patients diagnosed with these challenging diseases,’ it said.

‘She takes a targeted approach, leveraging the most innovative combinations of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and immunotherapy.”

Dr Larijani lived at an apartment about 10 minutes away from the Emory University medical center with a man believed to be her husband, who was also thought to be Iranian.

Following the Iranian regime’s brutal crackdown on protesters in January, in which her father was a central figure, her position at the hospital came to the attention of Iranian dissidents.

Buddy Carter, a Republican congressman from Georgia, then sent a letter to the university and the state medical board demanding she be removed, and saying her presence in the US was ‘unacceptable’.

Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Ali Khamenei, has been declared his father’s successor as Supreme Leader but has not been seen in public and there are reports he has been seriously injured in US and Israeli strikes

Larijani and other Iranian leaders joined a Quds Day march in Tehran on Friday

Congressman Buddy Carter of Georgia was at the forefront of a camapign to have Larijani’s daughter removed from her position at Emory University’s hospital in January 

An explosion in Tehran following coordinated military strikes by the United States and Israel

‘Her father has recently and publicly advocated violence against Americans and US allies while holding one of the highest national security posts in that hostile government,’ Carter wrote.

‘America’s medical institutions must not serve as a safe harbor for individuals connected by blood and loyalty to regimes that openly call for the death of Americans.’

The university subsequently terminated her employment in late January.

‘A physician who is the daughter of a senior Iranian government official is no longer an employee of Emory,’ the university said.

‘Because this is a personnel matter, we are unable to provide additional information.’

Congressman Carter told the Daily Mail: ‘Officials like him (Ali Larijani) are responsible for ordering the massacre of thousands of Iranians and have publicly advocated violence against Americans and US allies.

‘She (Fatemeh Larijani) should’ve never been allowed to treat or teach American citizens.’

Fatemeh Larijani has never made any public comment.

She is believed to have left the country. 

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.

Meanwhile, one of Larijani’s brothers, Bagher Ardeshir Larijani, was granted permanent residency in Canada in 2017.

According to Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) he qualified ‘as a skilled worker through his experience as a doctor.’

In 2022 he was issued with a departure order because he had not spent the required 730 days in the country over a five-year period.

Ali Larijani (L) with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and then-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009

Ali Larijani speaks at a press conference in Tehran in 2024

According to Iran International, a UK-based group, IRB documents showed that Bagher Larijani’s son – Ali Larijani’s nephew – had become a Canadian citizen.

The documents also showed that Bagher Larijani’s daughter – Ali Larijani’s niece – was a Canadian permanent resident and had been living in the US for several years.

Meanwhile, another nephew of Ali Larijani, is a professor at a university in the UK.

He has lived there for nearly 30 years and is not believed to have any connection to the regime.

In January, his university issued a statement saying he was a ‘long-standing member of our university community’ and it had no indication of ‘conduct that would be inconsistent with the university’s standards or expectations.’