Since agreeing to a ceasefire on April 8, the US has been seeking to permanently end the war it and Israel launched on Iran. But the ongoing talks through intermediaries have not yielded any success.
Another round of talks in Pakistan failed last week when the US said it was sending envoys, but Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left Islamabad before his arrival.
US President Donald Trump claims that talks are being complicated due to Iran’s chaotic domestic political situation.
“Iran is having a hard time figuring out who their leader is,” he wrote on his Truth social platform last Thursday. Trump said there is a power struggle between “radicals” and “liberals”, adding that “they’re not liberals at all (but gaining respect!).”
The same day, broadcaster CNN reported that US forces were planning, among other things, targeted strikes against individual Iranian military leaders and other individuals the US believes are actively undermining the talks.
Most of Iran’s top political and military leadership have already been killed in US-Israeli strikes. DW has limited the list to those who are possibly still active in Tehran.
Ahmed Vahidi: IRGC commander from March 2026
As commander-in-chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), 68-year-old Ahmad Vahidi replaced Mohammad Pakpour, who was killed along with several high-ranking IRGC commanders during a meeting with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on February 28 in the first attacks of the war.
Vahidi is not new to Iran or internationally. Wahidi is from 2007 wanted by interpol In connection with his alleged involvement in the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA), a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.
Argentinian investigators believe Wahidi was one of the masterminds behind the attack, which killed 85 people and injured hundreds. At the time of the attack, Wahidi was the commander of the Quds Force, an elite IRGC unit responsible for foreign operations.
Vahidi joined the Revolutionary Guard at the age of 20 and rose through the ranks during the Iran–Iraq War. He later became the commander of the Quds Force and remained in this post till 1997.
He is considered a close confidant of Iran’s fundamentalists. He served as Minister of Defense under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2009–2013). Under President Ibrahim Raisi, Vahidi served as Minister of Interior from 2021 to 2024.
During the “Women, Life, Freedom” protest movement following the death of Gina Mahsa Amini in police custody in 2022, she was considered one of the central figures in the repression of the protests and a staunch supporter of forcing women to wear the hijab headscarf by law.
According to Iranian sources, Vahidi is also said to belong to an inner circle of people who maintain direct contacts with Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
According to assessments by the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP), the current situation in Iran suggests that Vahidi may emerge as a stronger contender than Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in the internal power struggle. Ghalibaf is the speaker of the parliament and is considered part of the liberal camp, which advocates direct talks with the US.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf: Speaker of the Parliament
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf is one of Iran’s most influential politicians, and also has close ties to the Revolutionary Guard. He has served as the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) since 2020.
Born in 1961, he joined the IRGC after the revolution. During the Iran–Iraq War, he served as a commander in the Revolutionary Guard and later advanced through the ranks of the security apparatus.
As Speaker of Parliament, he led the first direct talks with US Vice President JD Vance in Pakistan, which ended without any breakthrough after 21 hours.
At present it is not clear whether Ghalibaf will continue in this role or not.
Iranian officials deny that there are internal conflicts with hardline factions over what stance Iran should take in the negotiations. However, Ghalibaf is said to have issued a clear internal warning against the influence of people such as former National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili, whom Ghalibaf has assessed will “destroy Iran.”
According to Iranian news portal Jamran, Amir Ebrahim Rasouli, political advisor to the speaker of the parliament, denied these reports of internal divisions.
Saeed Jalili: Radical
US broadcaster Fox News reported on April 26 that Saeed Jalili, an “ultra-hardliner who has mocked Trump,” is set to take charge of the nuclear talks. There has been no official confirmation from Iran regarding the change in the negotiating team.
Jalili, 60, is one of the most prominent hard-liners in the Iranian political system and rejects any rapprochement with the West. Like others of his generation, he volunteered for military service during the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988) and lost part of his right leg during the war. After the war, he started his career at the Iranian Foreign Ministry in 1989.
He later worked in the Office of the Supreme Leader and served as Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council from 2007 to 2013, while also serving as chief negotiator on the nuclear program. In this role, he steered negotiations with the West in a confrontational direction, contributing to the passage of UN sanctions resolutions against Iran.
Following Trump’s recent comments on Iran’s leadership, Jalili demonstratively aligned himself with the government and supported the official Iranian line.
Jalili and other officials posted nearly identical messages on social media, saying: “In our Iran, there are neither radicals nor moderates.”
The message further said: “We are all ‘Iranians’ and ‘revolutionaries’, and with the iron unity of the people and the state, we will force the criminal aggressor to repent, in absolute loyalty to the Supreme Leader of the Revolution.”
Mojtaba Khamenei: Supreme Leader
Mojtaba Khamenei was born in 1969, the second son of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Following the death of Ali Khamenei in the first attacks of the war on 28 February, Mojtaba Khamenei was named as his successor and new supreme leader by the 88-member Assembly of Experts.
His supporters are waiting for a public statement after he becomes the supreme leader on March 8, 2026. However, till date there is neither any official video nor any audio recording of him. Unlike his father or revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini, Mojtaba is not known as a public speaker and has always remained in the background.
Many are wondering whether he survived the attack involving about 30 missiles on his father’s residential and office complexes.
According to a report the new York Times Last week, he was said to be receiving treatment for serious injuries at a secret location, without electronic communications, and under the care of a small group of trusted doctors. The report also states that President Massoud Pezeshkian has been involved in his treatment as a heart surgeon.
Massoud Pezeshkian: President
Massoud Pezeshkian is the President of Iran from July 2024. He was born in Mahabad in 1954, is a trained heart surgeon and served as Minister of Health under President Mohammad Khatami from 2001 to 2005. He later served for several years as a member of parliament representing Tabriz and was the Deputy Speaker of the Iranian Parliament from 2016 to 2020.
In Iran’s political system, the president is subordinate to the Supreme Leader, who exercises de facto control over the army, the Revolutionary Guard, the judiciary, and strategic foreign policy.
Pezeshkian repeatedly stressed the need for dialogue with the US and called for “fair and equal negotiations”. He officially supports Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who, as Speaker of the Parliament, established the first direct contact in negotiations with the US in Pakistan.
Abbas Araghchi: Foreign Minister
Abbas Araghchi also repeats this message repeatedly in his public statements. Born in 1962, Araghchi has served as Foreign Minister of Iran since 2024 and is the public face of negotiations with the United States.
He participated in the Iranian Revolution as a teenager and fought in the Iran–Iraq War as a member of the Revolutionary Guard.
Araghchi joined the Iranian Foreign Ministry in 1989 and served as ambassador to Finland (1999–2003) and Japan (2007–2011), among other posts, as well as holding several positions as deputy minister and spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In 2015, he was Iran’s chief negotiator in the nuclear talks that led to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which called for ending Tehran’s nuclear program.
In recent days, Araghchi traveled to Pakistan and Oman for talks, and on Monday traveled to Russia. At the same time he is at the center of intense diplomatic activity.
Fars, an Iranian news agency close to the Revolutionary Guard, also reported that Iran had passed “written messages” to the US government through the intermediary Pakistan.
Trump met with top security advisers on Monday to discuss the Iranian proposals.
Under the plan, Tehran would reportedly be allowed passage through the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for the US lifting its retaliatory blockade of Iranian ports while broader negotiations continue.
The question of Iran’s nuclear program will be raised later. However, early indications are that Iran’s latest proposal will not go far, as Trump wants the nuclear program to be on the table in any negotiations.
This article has been translated from German