Who is Ghalibaf? Iran’s hard-line speaker rises as Trump talks peace

Rather than pursue a university degree or work in his father’s workshop, he decided to join the Revolutionary Guards at age 18 and fought in the Iran-Iraq War. In his autobiography, he writes that he essentially grew up during the eight brutal years conflict that left hundreds of thousands dead, and he quickly rose through the ranks to become a commander. His brother, Hassan, was killed during the war.

After the war, Iran’s then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appointed Ghalibaf, who is a brigadier general, to head the Revolutionary Guard’s air force. In 1997, Ghalibaf went to France to obtain pilot certification to fly Airbus planes, and he flew planes for Iran’s national carrier, Iran Air, according to his autobiography.

Ghalibaf was also the country’s police chief and oversaw the suppression of protests and internal dissent. During his 12-year term as mayor of Tehran, Ghalibaf was accused of corruption, which he denied.

He also ran for president four times. In 2005, Ghalibaf wore a white suit at some campaign events, apparently to present a more moderate image, in stark contrast to the generally austere fashion sense of most politicians. The move got him noticed, but it was also ridiculed by some.

“He always had the ambition to be the head of the executive branch and lobbied for years for Mr. Mojtaba Khamenei to be the supreme leader,” said Ali Akbar Mousavi Khoeini, a former Iranian parliamentarian who worked with Ghalibaf when he was a politician in Iran and is now a researcher at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

This ambition is expected to come to the fore after Khamenei was named supreme leader this month following the assassination of his father, Ali Khamenei, on February 28. He has not released any video or audio statements since assuming the country’s highest office.

“Mojtaba is believed to have long maintained a very close relationship with Tehran mayor and presidential candidate Mohammad Baqr Qalibaf; Mojtaba is said to have been the backbone of Qalibaf’s past and continuing election campaigns,” reads a 2008 US diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks, which uses a different transliteration for the parliament speaker’s last name. “Mojtaba would assist Qalibaf as an advisor, financier and provider of high-level political support. His support and proximity to Qalibaf would remain intact.”

Other men also became key figures in the country’s power structure.

Until his death in a military strike last week, Ali Larijani, the head of the Supreme National Security Council, was the figure many observers considered the country’s de facto leader. He was replaced Tuesday by Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, a former Revolutionary Guard commander who also held senior security posts.

Another prominent figure is Ahmad Vahidi, who was named head of the Revolutionary Guards this month after his predecessor was killed in the opening salvo of the war on February 28. Vahidi, a hardliner who previously served as defense and interior minister and now leads the war effort, was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2022 for his role in the bloody crackdown on protests at the time.

Treasury also said Vahidi oversaw the bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1994 that killed 85 people and injured hundreds more. Interpol issued a red notice against Vahidi due to his alleged role in the attack.

The rise of Ghalibaf, Zolghadr and Vahidi the absence of Mojtaba Khamenei in high-level leadership positions in the Islamic Republic – signals a shift toward hard-line elements of the Revolutionary Guard effectively running the country, said Mousavi Khoeini, who is still in contact with Iranian officials.

“The power is in the hands of the Revolutionary Guards and the most radical faction of the Revolutionary Guards,” he said.

He added: “Vahidi is in charge of the country. Ghalibaf does not have the strength to confront him.”

It was Vahidi, Mousavi Khoeini said, who pushed for continued attacks on regional countries, despite opposition from other senior officials, such as President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Current and former Guard commanders will likely maintain their hard line in any dealings with the United States aimed at ending the war and, if they survive the conflict, will be ruthless in the face of internal dissent, some observers say.

These developments are an indication of “the gradual transformation of the Islamic Republic into a military dictatorship, even though it retains a clerical figure, Mr. Mojtaba Khamenei, as ceremonial head of state and leader of the revolution,” said Alfoneh of the Arab Institute for the Gulf States.