Negotiations between the US and Iran to end the war have been ongoing since April 8, but the talks have not progressed beyond the exchange of messages through intermediaries. US President Donald Trump believes that the reason for this is, among other things, the chaos within Iran itself: "Iran is having a big problem even knowing who its leader really is," he wrote last Thursday (April 23) on the social network Truth Social. There is a power struggle underway between "hardliners" and "moderates, who are not so moderate at all, but whose influence is spreading."
On the same day, US media reported plans to attack certain Iranian officials who were allegedly undermining the negotiations. At the top of the list is Ahmad Vahidi, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
Ahmad Vahidi, commander of the Revolutionary Guard
Sixty-eight-year-old Ahmad Vahidi took over as commander of the Revolutionary Guards after the death of Mohammad Pakpour, who was killed in an attack on February 28, 2026, along with several other senior commanders, during a meeting with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Ahmad Vahidi is well-known both in Iran and abroad: he has been wanted by Interpol since 2007 for his alleged involvement in the bombing of the AMIA (Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.
Argentine investigators consider Vahidi one of the main organizers of the terrorist act in which 85 people were killed and more than 300 were injured. At the time of the attack, Vahidi was the commander of the Quds Brigade, an elite unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, also responsible for operations abroad.
Vahidi joined the Revolutionary Guard at the age of 20 and built a military career during the Iran-Iraq War. He then became commander of the Quds Force, a position he held until 1997.
As a hardliner, he also distinguished himself as Minister of Defense in the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2009–2013), and in the government of President Ebrahim Raisi, from 2021 to 2024, he served as Minister of Interior.
During the 2022 women's rights protests, following the murder of Gina Mahsa Amini in police custody, he is considered a key figure in the bloody suppression of the demonstrations and a staunch advocate of the religious regulation of covering women's hair.
According to Iranian sources, Vahidi also belongs to the inner circle of associates of Iran's new revolutionary leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.
According to estimates by foreign institutes, Vahidi is probably a more influential figure even than the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is considered to have more moderate views and advocates for negotiations.
Mohamed Bager Galibaf, predsjednik parlamenta
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, as the speaker of the Iranian parliament (Majlesh) since 2020, is among the most powerful people in Iran and has close ties to the Revolutionary Guard.
He was born in 1961 and joined the Revolutionary Guard after the revolution. During the Iran-Iraq War, he became a unit commander, and after the war, he continued his career in the security structures.
As speaker of parliament, he led the Iranian delegation at the first negotiations with the US in Pakistan, but it is uncertain whether he will retain that role.
Internal divisions among Iranian officials generally do not reach the public: information has emerged that Ghalibaf accused Saeed Jalili and his ilk of "destroying Iran," but such allegations have been officially denied.
Said Jalili, the shadowy powerhouse
The American television network Fox News recently reported that Saeed Jalili, "a hardliner who mocked Trump," could take over leading the peace talks. However, there is no confirmation of these allegations yet.
Saeed Jalili, born in 1965, formally holds only vague positions in Iran's state apparatus - he is a member of the body that resolves disputes between parliament and the Revolutionary Guards and is supposedly the supreme leader's representative at meetings of the Supreme National Security Council. However, he is widely known as an unwavering hardliner in the Iranian political system, as someone who resolutely rejects any rapprochement with the West.
During the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988), he volunteered for the army and lost part of his right leg in combat. After the war, in 1989, he began his career in the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He later worked in the Supreme Leader's office, and from 2007 to 2013 he was secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and at the same time Iran's chief nuclear negotiator. During that period, negotiations further intensified, leading to new United Nations sanctions against Iran.
Following Trump's recent statements about the uncertainties in Iranian governance, Jalili and other officials posted almost identical messages on social media: "In our Iran, there are neither hardliners nor moderates. We are all 'Iranian' and 'revolutionary,' and with the iron unity of the people and the state, in complete loyalty to the Supreme Leader of the Revolution, we will force the criminal aggressor to repent."
Mojtaba Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran
The Supreme Leader of Iran is Mojtaba Khamenei, born in 1969 as the second son of the assassinated Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei. After his death in February 2026, the "Assembly of Experts", consisting of 80 prominent religious scholars, appointed him as the new Supreme Leader.
Although he took office on March 8, 2026, his public address is still expected. However, to this day, there is no official recording of his words. Unlike his father or revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini, Mojtaba is not known as a powerful speaker and has mostly operated from the background.
It is also not entirely clear what his health condition is after the attack of about thirty missiles on his father's residential and business buildings. The New York Times writes that he is allegedly seriously wounded and is being held at a secret location, under constant supervision of a small circle of trusted doctors, without electronic communication. According to these allegations, President Masoud Pezeshkian is also participating in his treatment as a cardiac surgeon.
Masoud Pezeshkian, President
Masoud Pezeshkian has been the President of Iran since July 2024. He was born in 1954 in Mahabad, and is a physician and cardiac surgeon by training. From 2001 to 2005, he was Minister of Health in the government of President Mohammad Khatami. After that, he was a member of parliament from Tabriz for many years, and from 2016 to 2020, he served as Deputy Speaker of Parliament.
In Iran's political system, the president is subordinate to the supreme leader, who has effective control over the military, the Revolutionary Guard, the judiciary, and key foreign policy.
Pezeshkian constantly emphasizes the need for negotiations with the US and calls for "honest and equal talks". He officially supports Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who as speaker of parliament established the first direct contacts with the Americans during the negotiations in Pakistan.
Abbas Araghchi, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Abbas Araghchi also constantly repeats this message in his public appearances. Born in 1962, Araghchi has been Iran's foreign minister since 2024 and one of the most recognizable figures in diplomatic negotiations with the US and other countries.
He participated in the Iranian Revolution as a boy, and during the 1980s he fought in the Iran–Iraq War as a member of the Revolutionary Guard. Aragchi joined the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1989. He served as ambassador to Finland (1999–2003) and Japan (2007–2011), and as deputy foreign minister and spokesman for the ministry on several occasions. In 2015, he was Iran's chief negotiator in the nuclear talks that led to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal.
In recent days, Aragchi has traveled for talks to Pakistan, Oman and, on Monday (April 27th), to Russia, finding himself at the center of intense diplomatic activity.
Iran's Fars news agency, close to the Revolutionary Guard, reported that Iran has sent "written messages" to the US government through Pakistani intermediaries. They allegedly refer to the "red lines of the Islamic Republic of Iran", including the nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz, but are reportedly not part of official negotiations.
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