The most likely interlocutor is Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the conservative speaker of parliament who previously served as mayor of Tehran and as a senior commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. U.S. officials insist they’re already negotiating with him, though Ghalibaf himself denies this. White House officials even reportedly view Ghalibaf as a potential future leader of Iran that they can work with, akin to Venezuela’s Delcy Rodriguez. Yet for all the focus on Ghalibaf, analysts note that Larijani’s successor as head of the powerful Supreme National Security Council arguably deserves more attention. Earlier this week, the regime announced that Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, a hardliner who previously served as deputy commander of the IRGC, will take over that role.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 26, 2026 17:29 UTC