Iran’s Chief Negotiator Blasts America and Israel With Barbs of an Online Native

Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Galibaf, is developing a cult following on X with his wicked barbs roasting President Trump, raising concern that the Islamic Republic’s chief negotiator in peace talks with America may be getting his voice from a political ally living in a Los Angeles suburb. The posts, which smack of a native grasp of American English, are likely the work of an adviser, Meisam Zamanabadi, according to the independent media outlet, IranWire. If that is so, the California-based Mr. Zamanabadi could be in violation of several federal laws and subject to deportation as were other scions of Iran’s cronyist regime last week.Before the start of the military conflict on February 28, Mr. Ghalibef, a former mayor of Tehran who holds a PhD and is a former Iranian Air Force commander, was mostly silent online and off, overpowered by more assertive and authoritative personalities within the regime. However, since the elimination of many of the Islamic Republic’s top leaders, the voice of the perennial Iranian presidential candidate has grown stronger and more assertive. In a post on April 5, written in English — a language he does not speak — Mr. Ghalibaf appeared to challenge Mr. Trump by calling him a puppet of Israel. “Your reckless moves are dragging the United States into a living HELL for every single family, and our whole region is going to burn because you insist on following Netanyahu’s commands. Make no mistake: You won’t gain anything through war crimes,” a post said.A day earlier, another post using decidedly American English syntax read, “SITREP: Battle-tested generals refuse to be yes-men for a TV host selling out American lives for Israel’s delusions. That’s the short-term price. Long-term cost? American taxpayers paying at the pump for decades. Real LEGACY.”Noting the Gen Z-laced communication style, full of emojis and subversive appeals aimed at the American people, observers are questioning whether the X posts are originating from Glendora, California, where resides Mr. Zamanabadi, a professor at the Pasadena-based online school, University of the People.“The slick propaganda style you have been seeing in his posts is not Ghalibaf. It’s Iranian regime’s ghostwriter in California,” surmised an Iranian-born University of Chicago PhD candidate, Sana Ebrahimi Ledene, who frequently writes about resistance to the Iranian government.“Ghalibaf doesn’t speak English. Who did he hand his login info to? Because his account reads just like an annoying American podcaster now,” wrote an Iranian Jewish influencer, Nioh Berg, who has been tracking family members of Iran’s Islamic regime.IranWire, which has long tracked Mr. Ghalibaf’s corruption, reported that Mr. Zamanabadi and two other close allies are long-ago beneficiaries of funds that were meant for Iranian cultural affairs and anti-drug efforts but were diverted to Mr. Ghalibaf’s Pas Sports Club. That money was then used to fund two pro-regime media outlets, IPNA news agency and the Pas-e Javan newspaper.Mr. Zamanabadi is reportedly the son of Gholamhossein Zamanabadi, one of the original revolutionaries tied to the Islamic Republic, who as an early intelligence officer censored journalists and purged pre-revolutionary media figures in the 1980s. He later helped embed his son into Mr. Ghalibaf’s inner circle as editor-in-chief of IPNA and Pas-e Javan. As Tehran’s mayor from 2005 to 2017, Mr. Ghalibaf also founded the magazine, Hamshahri, meaning “Compatriot.” The magazine, which is packed with pro-Ghalibaf content, is led by Mr. Zamanabadi and widely distributed at Friday prayers, IranWire reported. When Mr. Zamanabadi immigrated to the United States in 2017, he reportedly continued to receive a salary equivalent to $11,000 per month as an adviser to Mr. Ghalibaf, according to the paper. On his social media accounts, including LinkedIn and Instagram, Mr. Zamanabadi lists himself as a PhD in media psychology, with a focus on “media team training, the effects of digital media, social dynamics in the modern era, and the psychological impacts of contemporary communications on the new generation at U.S. institutions.” He describes himself as an analyst for media tracking tool AdFontes and runs an Iranian broadsheet, Tamashagar, or “Entertainment.”Several Iranian resistance leaders are now calling for Mr. Zamanabadi to be deported. Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio terminated the legal status of three Iranians who had been tied to the regime, including Seyed Eissa Hashemi, Maryam Tahmasebi, and their son, who arrived in the United States in 2014.Mr. Hashemi’s father was one of the militants who stormed the American Embassy at Tehran in 1979 and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days, later becoming a cabinet minister. His mother, Masoumeh Ebtekar, became known as “Screaming Mary” for her actions as spokeswoman for the hostage-takers. “Her family should never have been allowed to benefit from the extraordinary privilege of living in our country. America can never become home for anti-American terrorists or their families — and under the Trump Administration, it never will,” Mr. Rubio said at the time.Immigration officials have arrested other Iranian relatives of regime leaders, including the niece of the late Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander, Qasem Soleimani, whom Mr. Trump assassinated in 2020, and the former Iranian security chief, Ali Larijani, who was killed in attacks last month.In light of stiff sanctions against Iran and other sedition laws, writing on behalf of the Iranian regime from a perch in the United States likely violates several American laws, including the Espionage Act, the Alien Enemies Act, and the Foreign Agent Registration Act. However, even if Mr. Zamanabadi was deported, his media skill in service to Mr. Ghalibaf is unlikely to be curbed by a remote location. Mr. Ghalibaf’s plain-spoken English knows no borders with nearly 600,000 followers and growing.

Iran’s Chief Negotiator Blasts America and Israel With Barbs of an Online Native

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