When Ayatollah Sadegh Amoli Larijani, a former chairman of Iran’s judiciary, came under political fire recently, he reacted with an over-the-top outburst that could endanger his future and that of his highly influential family.

When Larijani was appointed judiciary chief in 2009 — a position he held until December 2018 — many considered him a strong candidate to eventually become supreme leader. But his standing has now seriously diminished with recent accusations against him, as well as his furious reaction, prompting possible mistrust and a negative view of him inside the establishment.

In December, Larijani was appointed chairman of Iran's Expediency Council, which is tasked with resolving disputes between parliament and the Guardian Council. But his term as judiciary chief had left many people with a grudge against him because of his harsh treatment of both Reformist and conservative critics. No one, including the media, dared to speak against him or the courts.

In the months before his judiciary tenure ended, Larijani’s position became precarious as former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his allies repeatedly accused Larijani of corruption and his daughter of spying for Britain. Things got worse in March when a group of conservative students using the name “Justice Seekers" sent a letter to Ebrahim Raisi, the new chief justice, asking him to investigate Larijani's alleged role in a massive land-grab scheme in Lavasan, a wealthy Tehran suburb.