BBC veteran correspondent John Simpson has been criticised for describing Iranian regime security chief Ali Larijani as “clever and reasonable” despite presiding over a brutal regime of torture and murder for decades.
The Corporation’s World Affairs Editor was reacting to the news that the former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had been killed in an air strike by Israel.
Simpson posted a tweet saying: “I’ve met Ali Larijani several times over the years. Yes, he was a top figure in a nasty regime.
“But he always seemed clever and reasonable – the kind of person you might want to negotiate a peace deal with.
“Is it a good idea for Israel to take out people like him?”
Larijani was thought to be the de facto leader of the Islamic Republic. He is the most senior regime figure to have been killed since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei died in an attack on Tehran on the opening day of the air campaign more than two weeks ago.
Reacting to Simpson’s post, leading Iran expert Kasra Aarabi of United Against Nuclear Iran said: “Ali Larijani – a former IRGC commander – was personally involved in, and responsible for, the massacre of 40,000 unarmed Iranian civilians in January.
“Yet @JohnSimpsonNews describes him as “clever and reasonable.”
“This is a truly awful and offensive tweet from a BBC journalist.”
A number of other X accounts also took issue with Simpson’s comments.
One posted: “This is quite the take. Yes he might have overseen the torture & murder of thousands of Iranians, but he did so with a pleasant smile. I despair.”
It came as a BBC News presenter suggested Larijani was a “moderate”.
Commenting on his death, the presenter said: “The slight problem here is Israel continues to take out the Iranian leadership, particularly the ones who have been in the past been considered moderates.”
Larijani’s death was announced by Israel defence minister Israel Katz, who said a commander in the Basij paramilitary force commander, Gholamreza Soleimani, had also been killed.
Katz said: “Larijani and the Basij commander were eliminated overnight and joined the head of the annihilation programme, Khamenei, and all the eliminated members of the axis of evil, in the depths of hell.”
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