Addressing US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the killing of Khamenei, he promised \u201csuch devastating blows that you will be begging.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t \u201cI say to these two dirty criminals and their agents: you have stepped on our red line, and you have to pay for it,\u201d he declared in a television speech.<\/p>\n That fiery rhetoric reflects his longstanding position as a fierce disciple of the Islamic Republic\u2019s theocratic system of government, a stance he has also demonstrated through helping to crush displays of internal dissent.<\/p>\n Yet despite that hardline, anti-reformist profile, and his direct role in brutally crushing anti-regime protests, Qalibaf has also built a reputation as a potential modernizer and pragmatist, posing during his 2005 presidential run in his uniform as a qualified pilot for campaign advertisements to bolster his image as a professional.<\/p>\n That stance may have helped position him as a useful candidate for backchannel talks with Washington as the conflict continued, though Iran\u2019s Fars news agency has also reported that there have been no communications with the US.<\/p>\n Early life shaped by run-up to Islamic Revolution<\/p>\n Born in the northeastern town of Torqabeh in 1961, Qalibaf\u2019s early life was partly shaped by lectures he attended in mosques as a teenager, according to Iranian media, as the 1979 Islamic Revolution gathered steam.<\/p>\n When Iraq invaded Iran months after the ruling shah was ousted, he joined the IRGC, a new military unit devoted to upholding the country\u2019s new Islamic system, rising to become a general within three years. The IRGC is a US- and EU-designated terrorist organization.<\/p>\n \t Pursuing a career with the Guards after the war ended, he qualified as a military pilot and eventually became head of the Guards\u2019 air force unit.<\/p>\n While with the IRGC, he took part in a bloody crackdown on university students in 1999 and joined other commanders in signing a letter to the reformist president, Mohammad Khatami, threatening to oust him if he did not curb protests.<\/p>\n Khamenei, caught between growing discontent at home and foreign pressure over Iran\u2019s nuclear program, increasingly turned to security hawks like Qalibaf as the reformist movement ran out of steam.<\/p>\n As police chief he could be ruthless \u2014 ordering his forces to fire on protesters in 2002 \u2014 while trying to court modernizers by smartening up the disheveled police with new uniforms.<\/p>\n Yet when he ran for president in 2005, trying to appeal to middle- and lower-income voters, his populist credentials were outdone by the firebrand Tehran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Khamenei eventually swung his support away from his favored former general to the new man.<\/p>\n \t Qalibaf never stopped seeking the presidency, running unsuccessfully in 2013 and 2024, and pulling out of the 2017 race to avoid splitting the hardline vote.<\/p>\n He replaced Ahmadinejad as Tehran\u2019s mayor, holding the post for 12 years and taking credit for helping suppress months of unrest that rocked the establishment after his predecessor was declared winner of a disputed election in 2009.<\/p>\n His 12-year stint as mayor was followed by his return to national politics with his election to parliament and installation as speaker in 2020, giving him one of the top posts in Iranian politics.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tIran\u2019s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf (2-L)) and his Lebanese counterpart Nabih Berri (L) walk together after their meeting in Beirut, Lebanon, on October 12, 2024. (AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AFP__20240527__34TY7RT__v2__HighRes__IranVoteParliament-e1716880853631-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tFormer Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani (L) and reelected speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf (R) attend the inauguration session for the new Parliament in Tehran on May 27, 2024. (AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Iran-Election_Horo-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tTehran\u2019s mayor and conservative presidential candidate Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, center right, listens to a cleric on his arrival to attend a campaign rally in Tehran, Iran, on May 2, 2017. (AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi, File)<\/p>\n
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