With Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arriving in Islamabad late last night to head the upcoming round of discussions between the US and Pakistan, questions arise about why Iran’s second-in-command from the previous talks now takes the lead.
Mohammad Baghir Ghalibaf, the influential ex-general of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the current speaker of Iran’s Parliament, headed the last Iranian delegation and encountered US Vice President JD Vance at the negotiation table. It would be incorrect to think he has been marginalized.
Iranian leaders, including Araghchi and Ghalibaf, have firmly dismissed President Donald Trump’s assertions of a divided Iranian leadership in nearly identical recent tweets. Ghalibaf stated, “there are no extremists or centrists – we are all Iranian and revolutionary.”
Although Trump urged the Iranians to present “their proposal,” the purpose of Araghchi’s visit to Tehran remains unclear, yet it revitalizes the stagnant peace talks process.