Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Monday, March 23, 2026
From the Liveblog of
Monday, March 23, 2026
White House said negotiating with Iran’s hardline parliament speaker
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleLazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
US President Donald Trump’s top envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner negotiated with Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Israeli officials tell Hebrew language media.
Ghalibaf, a close friend of slain IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani who has been involved in violent suppression of protests, has emerged as a leading wartime decision-maker as leading Iranian officials have been taken out in the Israeli-US campaign against Iran.
Earlier today, Trump claimed that the US was in talks with a respected leader in Iran, while declining to reveal his identity.
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