Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, who is reportedly leading the ongoing diplomatic talks with the United States, has praised Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of 1,200 people as a “victory” and recently threatened to make the Gulf “run with the blood of invaders” if Washington targeted regime assets on islands there.
U.S. officials told multiple outlets on Monday that Ghalibaf was leading talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on behalf of Tehran and is regarded by at least some in the White House as a workable partner who could lead the Islamic Republic.
“He’s a hot option,” one administration official told Politico, adding that no decisions had been made. “He’s one of the highest ... But we got to test them, and we can’t rush into it.”
Ghalibaf on Monday denied reports he was speaking with the Trump administration, claiming that the president’s statements about negotiations were “fake news” being used to manipulate the financial and oil markets.
Ghalibaf, who has long been a central figure in the regime’s political establishment, has served as the speaker of Iran’s Majlis since 2020, when he replaced Ali Larijani, the top security official who was slain in an Israeli Air Force strike last week.
On Oct. 11, 2023, four days after Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel, murdering hundreds of civilians, injuring thousands and taking 251 hostages to Gaza, Ghalibaf celebrated the massacre as proof that “the Zionist regime will never have peace until the day it is annihilated.”
The resolve of greatness, resistance, and victory that has resided in our dear Palestinians, this operation showed that (victory) is achievable and within reach,” he declared, according to a translation by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). The speaker then led in chants of “death to Israel” and “death to America.”
On March 12, Ghalibaf threatened in a post on X to “make the Persian Gulf run with the blood of invaders” if Washington targeted regime assets on islands there, tweeting: “Homeland or death!”
“Any aggression against soil of Iranian islands will shatter all restraint,” he wrote, adding, “The blood of American soldiers is Trump’s personal responsibility.”
Trump administration officials on Monday dismissed Ghalibaf’s public rejection of negotiations as internal posturing, Politico reported.
“We’re in the testing phase of really trying to figure out who can rise, who wants to rise, who tries to rise,” an official said. “And then as people rise, we’ll do a quick test, and if they’re radical, we’ll take them out.”
Another senior White House official said Trump is interested in pursuing a diplomatic agreement with Tehran because he’s looking for “progress” in the Strait of Hormuz and a ceasefire.
“POTUS, like anyone, would rather have peace than war,” the senior official added.
