Ghalibaf's English face on X raises questions about his media network in the US

Over the past year, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the Islamic Republic's parliament, has been writing on X in English and in an American tone for a Western audience; the account stayed active even during the 40-day war. In the assessment of DIAR's analysts, behind this online persona stands a network of media and business managers close to Ghalibaf who have lived and worked in the United States for years.

The main question is this: how have people rooted in the Islamic Republic's security and propaganda apparatus obtained residence in the US, and how do they shape the narrative of one of this regime's highest officials from there?

From a sports news agency to a campaign headquarters

In the assessment of DIAR's analysts, one of the main figures in this network is Meysam Zamanabadi. He was the chief executive of the IPNA sports news agency, an outlet that, according to the same assessment, was launched while Ghalibaf commanded the police force and in connection with the Pas sports club. After that, the news site "Iran News" was launched for Ghalibaf's presidential run in 2005, and in the 2013 election Ghalibaf's campaign projects were also entrusted to this team.

DIAR's analysts also see his family background as part of this picture: his father, Gholamhossein Zamanabadi, was in their assessment the intelligence representative of the prime minister's office in the 1980s and one of the first Intelligence Ministry officers in charge of security oversight of the press, and in later decades, through his closeness to Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, obtained licences for dozens of publications.

Links to the municipality and Alireza Dabir

According to DIAR's analysts, the name of this team came up repeatedly during Ghalibaf's time as mayor of Tehran in reviews of the municipality's corruption cases. After IPNA was dissolved, part of the team moved to the "Tamashagar" website, which is attributed to Alireza Dabir, head of the wrestling federation and a former member of Tehran's city council.

DIAR's analysts assess that this network's activity in the US has two parts: an entity with cultural cover that deals with political connections and lobbying, and a business company that handles property deals and the management of real estate linked to Alireza Dabir and people close to Ghalibaf. These claims require examination by the responsible US authorities, and DIAR does not hold independent evidence for all their details.

American language for the Islamic Republic's parliament speaker

One sign that caught the attention of DIAR's analysts is Ghalibaf's English writing itself: American teenage slang, and his name signed in the American style with initials (MB Ghalibaf), a practice that is not common for an Iranian politician. In their assessment, these texts are written in the United States, not in the parliament speaker's office in Tehran.

The account was active during a period when Ghalibaf was one of the main decision-makers in the war with America, and he used it to send messages to American public opinion, including in the days when speculation about his role in talks with Washington ran high and he called reports of contacts with the US "fake news".

What matters for Iranians

For Iranians abroad, especially in Los Angeles, this question is not new: who, with a background of serving the Islamic Republic's propaganda and security apparatus, entered the US on student or investment visas and now serves the same regime from there? The Islamic Republic's networks for evading sanctions have shown that this regime makes use of business and cultural cover in the West.

In the assessment of DIAR's analysts, if even part of these links is confirmed, US institutions must answer why people with such a record have received residence and citizenship, and how the account of one of the Islamic Republic's senior officials is run from American soil.

In the assessment of DIAR's analysts, Ghalibaf's English face on X is the product of a network of people close to him in the US.