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What roles has Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf held in Iranian politics?

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Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf served as the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) air force (1997–2000) and chief of Law Enforcement Command (2000–05) before entering politics. He was narrowly elected to replace Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as mayor of Tehran (2005–17) and, after a failed run for president in 2017, he was elected to the Majles (parliament) in 2020 and became its speaker. He is reportedly a relative of the wife of Ali Khamenei, Iran’s second supreme leader, and is close to his son Mojtaba Khamenei, the third supreme leader. Although the Majles was dominated by the Paydari Front, a fundamentalist faction that is critical of Ghalibaf, his relationship with the Office of the Supreme Leader and the IRGC made him a favored candidate for parliament speaker. He has since become an important bridge between IRGC pragmatists and fundamentalist politicians.