Iran’s man in charge: Who is the negotiator leading Tehran through talks with the US? | CNN

When the Iranian delegation landed in Zurich, Switzerland, at the weekend, chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf was the first down the aircraft steps, followed by the foreign minister and other dignitaries. Shortly afterward, Ghalibaf posted a photo on X, showing himself walking the tarmac in front of the aircraft, its fuselage adorned with the Iranian flag and the hashtag “#Mindab168” — a reference to a deadly US attack on an elementary school in southern Iran in March. “I consider the innocent children of Mindab and all martyrs of dear Iran to be watching over my every action,” he wrote on X. The powerful speaker of Iran’s parliament, Ghalibaf is leading the country in the delicate next phase of talks with the US after almost four months of war. The 64-year-old emerged as one of Iran’s most senior figures after a wave of US-Israeli assassinations of top Iranian leaders. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Ali Larijani, a key architect of Iran’s military and diplomatic strategy, were both killed by airstrikes. Search for accountability two months after strike killed 168 children at Iranian school “Ghalibaf has finally arrived at a position of immense influence b