Iran's Parliament speaker takes center role in peace talks
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Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in Iran's Parliament building in Tehran in December. Photo: Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has emerged as a key figure in President Trump's push for peace talks with Tehran.
The big picture: Trump has pressed Iran to strike a peace deal as the war reaches its first month, but the regime has rebuffed and mocked the overtures. However, Ghalibaf has reportedly shown a willingness to engage.
- A senior Iranian official and an Israeli official told Axios that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had been communicating with Ghalibaf, though a senior regime figure denied this.
State of play: The 64-year-old hardline senior official has served as speaker of Iran's Parliament since 2020 and was previously an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander, police chief and mayor of Tehran.
- He holds a doctorate in political geography and a pilot's license.
- Iranian-American author and historian Abbas Milani tells Axios that Ghalibaf is a "perennial losing candidate for presidency," having unsuccessfully run four times.
- Ghalibaf is regarded as a close associate of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who hasn't been seen in public since succeeding his father, Ali Khamenei, who was killed in U.S. and Israeli strikes at the start of the war.
Between the lines: Ghalibaf "is a bully and apparatchik with delusions of becoming a Napoleon," Milani, director of Iranian studies at Stanford University, said in a Thursday email.
- "Now as the regime teeters on the edge, it is no surprise if he again has the Bonapartist itch," he added.
Here's what to know about Ghalibaf's rise through the ranks:
Military career
Ghalibaf was a teenager when he joined the IRGC during the Iran–Iraq War in the 1980s and quickly rose through the ranks to become a commander.
- The IRGC selected him as Iran's Air Force commander in 1997, a role he held until 2000.
- He was a key security figure during student protests in 1999 that resulted in a brutal crackdown.
- Ghalibaf later said he was "proud" to have been "among those carrying out beatings on the street level" during the demonstrations.
Police chief appointment
Ghalibaf's "role in internal security and the suppression of urban protests became more pronounced" when he became chief of the Iranian police in 2000, according to the nonprofit Iran Human Rights Monitor.
- He served as police chief until 2005, when he was elected mayor of Tehran — the same year as his first failed presidential bid.
Corruption allegations
Ghalibaf served for three consecutive terms as mayor of Iran's capital, from 2005–2017.
- During his tenure, he was accused of corruption related to the sale of properties in northern Tehran to regime officials.
Presidential election attempts
He unsuccessfully ran for president in 2005, 2013, 2017 and 2024.
- Stanford's Milani notes Ghalibaf was once seen as the influential Mojtaba Khamenei's choice for president.
- However, he "said he wanted to be an Islamist Reza Shah," Milani said.
- After that, Mojtaba Khamenei "pulled the plug from him" and backed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who served as the country's president from 2005 to 2013.
Go deeper: Trump extends deadline for Iran negotiations
