US eyes Iran's next leader: Top candidate revealed
Photo: The US is looking for a new leader for Iran (Getty Images)
The US presidential administration views Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf as a potential negotiating partner and possibly even a new leader, according to Politico.
According to the agency’s sources, one of the key figures the White House is considering for future negotiations is 64-year-old Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
Despite Ghalibaf’s tense rhetoric, he has previously made harsh statements against the US, Washington views him as a pragmatic politician with whom business can be conducted.
Sources told the agency that no decisions regarding Ghalibaf have been made yet. The presidential administration, they added, wants to conduct stress tests on several candidates.
For Donald Trump, economic stability remains a key priority.
In particular, the US administration is refraining from attacks on strategically important sites, such as Kharg Island, which is the main hub for Iranian oil exports.
The goal is to find a compromise with the future Iranian leadership, which would offer stable energy supplies in exchange for the ability to maintain internal political control.
According to the agency’s sources, the son of Iran’s last shah, Reza Pahlavi, is not on this list of candidates.
The White House, as sources told Politico, is considering a Venezuelan scenario for Iran, in which a politician who enjoys domestic support and is simultaneously loyal to the United States comes to power. The Trump administration does not believe that Pahlavi would have any legitimacy in Iran.
"Ghalibaf is a quintessential insider: ambitious and pragmatic, yet fundamentally committed to the preservation of Iran’s Islamist order. That makes him an unlikely candidate to offer Washington any meaningful concessions," says a senior analyst on Iran at the International Crisis Group.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) during the Iran-Iraq War.
In 1999, he was appointed chief of the Iranian police. From 2005 to 2017, he served as mayor of Tehran. Since 2020, he has served as speaker of the Majlis, Iran’s unicameral parliament.
According to media reports, Ghalibaf participated in negotiations with the United States, following which Donald Trump announced the decision to postpone strikes on Iranian power plants for five days. Iran denies that the negotiations took place.
Agreement with Iran
The day before, US President Donald Trump stated that Washington and Tehran are negotiating an end to the war and already have important points of agreement.
According to him, the Iranian side is interested in reaching an agreement. He said that Tehran really wanted to make a deal and that this could happen within five days or sooner.
In addition, Trump announced that he had ordered the US military to suspend strikes on targets in Iran.
At the same time, according to Reuters, the US is negotiating with Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
Ghalibaf himself, commenting on these reports, denied having had any contact with Washington and stressed that he continues to support Iran’s Supreme Leader.
