Iran’s parliament speaker in spotlight as US hopes for Venezuela scenario
Iran’s parliament speaker in spotlight as US hopes for Venezuela scenario Tuesday 24/03/2026 A 2020 file photo shows Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, centre, surrounded by lawmakers after being elected as speaker of the parliament, in Tehran, Iran. WASHINGTON/ TEHRAN The Trump administration is quietly weighing Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, as a potential partner, and even a future leader, Politico reported on Monday, citing administration officials. Ghalibaf is seen by at least some in the White House as a workable partner who could lead Iran and negotiate with the Trump administration in the war’s next phase, the report said. “He’s a hot option,” one administration official told Politico, cautioning that no decisions have been made. “He’s one of the highest ... But we got to test them, and we can’t rush into it.” Despite the scepticism of many experts, through Iran’s parliament speaker the US hopes to repeat the Venezuela scenario. “It’s all about installing someone like a Delcy Rodríguez in Venezuela that we say, ‘We’re going to keep you there. We’re going to not take you out. You’re going to work with us. You’re going to give us a good deal, a first deal on the oil,’” said administration official. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “These are sensitive diplomatic discussions and the United States will not negotiate through the news media.” Analysts see Qalibaf taking a more central role as Israeli and US strikes pick off the Islamic Republic’s political leadership, making him a critical figure at a decisive moment. An Israeli official and a source familiar with the matter said on Monday that Qalibaf had been negotiating on Iran’s behalf with the United States as the conflict has escalated, a sign of his growing role. With fewer of Iran’s most prominent figures remaining, the former Revolutionary Guards commander, Tehran mayor, national police chief and presidential candidate is now a key node between the political, security and clerical elites. Nearly three weeks after the sudden assault on Iran began with the killing of then Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leadership in Tehran is engaged in a bitter attritional effort to outlast its assailants. Qalibaf, long seen as a protege of Khamenei and a confidant of his son Mojtaba who has succeeded to the position of supreme leader, has been a leading voice of defiance against Israel and the United States, vowing revenge for their attack. Addressing US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu after the killing of Khamenei, he promised “such devastating blows that you will be begging. “I say to these two dirty criminals and their agents: you have stepped on our red line and you have to pay for it,” he declared in a television speech. That fiery rhetoric reflects his long-standing position as a fierce disciple of the Islamic Republic’s theocratic system of government, a stance he has also demonstrated through helping to crush displays of internal dissent. Yet despite that hard-line profile, Qalibaf has also built a reputation as a moderniser and pragmatist, posing during his 2005 presidential run in his uniform as a qualified pilot for campaign adverts to bolster his image as a professional. That stance may have helped position him as a useful candidate for backchannel talks with Washington as the conflict continued, though Iran’s Fars news agency has also reported that there have been no communications with the US When Iraq invaded Iran months after the ruling shah was ousted, Qalibaf joined the Revolutionary Guards, a new military unit devoted to upholding the country’s new Islamic system, rising to become a general within three years. Pursuing a career with the Guards after the war ended, he qualified as a military pilot and eventually became head of the Guards’ air force unit. While with the Guards, he took part in a bloody crackdown on university students in 1999 and joined other commanders in signing a letter to the reformist president, Mohammad Khatami, threatening to oust him if he did not curb protests. Khamenei, caught between growing discontent at home and foreign pressure over Iran’s nuclear programme, increasingly turned to security hawks like Qalibaf as the reformist movement ran out of steam. As police chief he could be ruthless, ordering his forces to fire on protesters in 2002, while trying to court modernisers by smartening up the dishevelled police with new uniforms. Yet when he ran for president in 2005, trying to appeal to middle- and lower-income voters, his populist credentials were outdone by the firebrand Tehran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Khamenei eventually swung his support away from his favoured former general to the new man. Qalibaf never stopped seeking the presidency, running unsuccessfully in 2013 and 2024, and pulling out of the 2017 race to avoid splitting the hard-line vote. He replaced Ahmadinejad as Tehran mayor, holding the post for 12 years and taking credit for helping suppress months of unrest that rocked the establishment after his predecessor was declared winner of a disputed election in 2009. His 12-year stint as mayor was followed by his return to national politics with his election to parliament and installation as speaker in 2020, giving him one of the top posts in Iranian politics. Iran’s parliament is seen by Washington as a man of the ruling establishment who could deliver tangible results in any negotiations should he be willing to engage. He “is a quintessential insider: ambitious and pragmatic, yet fundamentally committed to the preservation of Iran’s Islamist order,” said Ali Vaez, a senior Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group.
2026-03-24 08:28:43
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