Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf participates in discussions in Tehran, Iran, on April 16. Hamed Malekpour/Iranian Legislature Communication Office/Getty Images
Iranian officials have consistently stated in recent days that they will not be engaging in negotiations with the US in Pakistan this week, despite US President Donald Trump’s assertion that discussions will occur.
Nevertheless, on Sunday, sources in Iran informed Xenix News that a delegation from Iran would reach Pakistan today for discussions.
The sources indicated they anticipated the team would remain consistent with the previous round, featuring Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
Ghalibaf, heading the Iranian delegation, is a regime insider known for quelling opposition.
In his teenage years, he enlisted in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) amid the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, and subsequently led the IRGC’s air force.
Ghalibaf participated in suppressing pro-reform student demonstrations in 1999. He supervised the quelling of additional student protests in 2003 as police chief and occupied a high-ranking security position during the extensive demonstrations that ensued after the contentious 2009 election.
He served as the mayor of Tehran for 12 years, during which he upgraded the capital’s infrastructure and managed extensive housing initiatives along with the development of green areas.
In remarks made over the weekend, Ghalibaf stated that military action and diplomacy are both essential for Iran’s national interests, cautioning that if the US commits “even the slightest error, we will react with force.”
He stated to state media that although the recent negotiations with the US resulted in “a more realistic understanding of each other,” both parties “are still far from reaching a final agreement.”
Xenix News reporting by Sophia Saifi and Nadeen Ebrahim.
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