'A hot option': White House weighs making Iran's parliament speaker a US-backed leader

The Trump administration is weighing a greater role for Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad ⁠Bagher Ghalibaf, someone Washington can trust for backing as it tries to strike a deal with Tehran.

According to a report by Politico, Ghalibaf is seen by some White House officials as a potential leader to spearhead negotiations with the US. It is worth noting that the 64-year-old parliament speaker has been vehemently opposing the US and has threatened its allies with retaliation.

Other leaders also in fray

However, Ghalibaf is not the only person under consideration for the top role; he is a “hot option” for now. The White House is also stress testing other people for the job, as per the report, with one official saying that Ghalibaf “is one of the highest…But we got to test them, and we can’t rush into it.”

Trump on Monday said that his government held talks with “very solid” figures inside Iran and that he has decided to put the plan of bombing Iran’s energy infrastructure on hold for five days.

Talking about the apparent deal, “No negotiations have been held with the US, and fake news is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped.”

“Iranian people demand complete and remorseful punishment of the aggressors. All Iranian officials stand firmly behind their supreme leader and people until this goal is achieved,” he added.

Venezuela 2.0?

The president is also focused on economic concerns, particularly oil. According to one official, Trump has avoided targeting Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil hub, because he hopes a future leader might strike a deal similar to the one reached by Delcy Rodríguez after Nicolás Maduro was captured.

“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,’” the administration official said.

However, some officials think that Ghabilaf would not be as compliant as Rodriguez. “Ghalibaf 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.

He added, “That makes him an unlikely candidate to offer Washington any meaningful concessions. And even if he were inclined to test the boundaries, Iran’s military establishment and the broader security elite would almost certainly constrain him. In the aftermath of U.S. and Israeli actions, the mood in Tehran is not one of flexibility but deep mistrust; the system as a whole sees little reason to believe that either Trump or Israel would honor the terms of any prospective agreement.”