Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf

As Speaker of Parliament and Iran's chief negotiator, Ghalibaf supported the 2026 memorandum with Washington. Ultraconservative MPs and activists accused him of violating the Supreme Leader's red lines, sidelining Parliament and even laying the groundwork for a political "coup".

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

Not applicable

Attribution

Political responsibility

On 30 June 2026, Iranian state television interrupted a prerecorded interview with Ghalibaf while he was explaining sensitive aspects of the agreement with Washington. Parliament's press centre publicly accused IRIB of removing, without consultation, passages concerning nuclear inspections and frozen assets, among other matters.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

Not applicable

Attribution

Directly implicated

Isa Sharifi, Ghalibaf's former deputy at Tehran municipality, was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment in a major corruption case involving, in particular, Yas Holding and financial relations between the municipality and IRGC entities. An internal IRGC recording leaked in 2022 directly mentions Ghalibaf and accuses him of exerting pressure to conclude a settlement limiting repayments.

Attribution

Directly implicated

Role of the person profiled

Protagonist not prosecuted

Images of members of Ghalibaf's family returning from Turkey with substantial purchases for a newborn triggered widespread controversy in Iran. The affair was dubbed "SismuniGate" and used to denounce the gap between official rhetoric promoting domestic consumption and the behaviour of senior officials' families.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

Not applicable

The fire and subsequent collapse of the Plasco building in Tehran killed numerous firefighters and triggered allegations of negligence against the municipality headed by Ghalibaf. It emerged that the building had received several safety warnings.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

Mohammad Ali Najafi, Ghalibaf's successor as mayor, presented the municipal council with a case alleging that municipal contracts had been used to transfer money to Ghalibaf's campaign organisation, while the actual value of certain services was substantially lower.

State of the evidence

Alleged

Attribution

Directly implicated

A leaked inspection report revealed transfers of Tehran municipal properties to officials or associates at heavily discounted prices. The Prosecutor General subsequently acknowledged violations in several contracts and called for the recovery of improperly granted discounts.

State of the evidence

Admitted by the person

Attribution

Political responsibility

In recorded remarks made public, Ghalibaf described the Tehran municipality he headed as having played an important role among the bodies contributing to the state's response to the 2009 crisis.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Institutional responsibility

Journalists and bloggers arrested in 2004 by the police security unit described incommunicado detention, physical and psychological violence and denial of access to legal counsel. One of them, Shahram Rafizadeh, publicly demanded accountability from Ghalibaf, then police chief.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Command responsibility

A recording attributed to Ghalibaf shows him recounting that, as police chief, he had exerted strong pressure on the National Security Council to obtain permission for armed entry into university dormitories and the use of firearms during the 2003 protests.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Command responsibility

In a recording released during the 2013 presidential election, Ghalibaf is heard recounting that in 1999, while commander of the IRGC air force, he was himself on a motorcycle in the streets and participated in beating protesters with batons, stating that he was proud of it.

Attribution

Directly implicated