About Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (born 23 August 1961) is an Iranian politician, pilot, and former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) brigadier general, who has served as Speaker of the Parliament of Iran since 2020. As of April 2026, he has been described as handling the strategic matters of Iran. Ghalibaf began his military career in 1980 during the Iran–Iraq War. He became chief commander of the IRGC Imam Reza Brigade in 1982, and was then chief commander of the IRGC 5th Nasr Division from 1983 to 1984. After the war, in 1994 he became Managing Director of Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters, a major engineering firm controlled by the IRGC. From 1997 to 2000, he was the commander of the IRGC Air Force. From 2000 to 2005, he was the chief of the Police Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran, during which time he was accused of ruthless violent suppression of protestors, arrests of intellectuals and journalists, and imposing a strict morality and hijab edict on the citizens of Iran. In 2005, Ghalibaf was elected mayor of Tehran by the Islamic City Council of Tehran, a position that he held until 2017. While mayor, he completed numerous high-profile construction projects in Tehran, including Iran's tallest building, the Milad Tower, but was also accused of being implicated in corruption scandals including the below-market-value sale of properties in northern Tehran to regime officials. An Iranian Principlist, he was a member of the Expediency Discernment Council of the System from 2017 to 2020. In the 2020 Iranian legislative election, the conservative Iranian Principlists regained the majority in the legislature, and Ghalibaf was elected as the new Speaker of the Parliament of Iran. Today Ghalibaf and his family own multiple luxury apartments in Istanbul, Turkey. During the 2025–2026 Iranian protests, he called for the punishment of protestors, whom he called enemies and terrorists. He was described by Time as having a reputation for sycophancy and corruption. Ghalibaf has been a perennial candidate in the Iranian presidential elections, having stood unsuccessfully for the office four times, never garnering more than 17% of the vote. Ghalibaf became one of the senior commanders of the IRGC in later years. Three such men became close comrades and helped build a web of influence that strengthened their respective positions: Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Ahmad Kazemi, and Qassem Soleimani. A Principlist, he held office as the Mayor of Tehran from 2005 to 2017. Ghalibaf was formerly Iran's chief of Police Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran from 2000 to 2005 and commander of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from 1997 to 2000.
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