Larijani, in Charge of the Trump File? / Iran and the United States Agree on the Outcome of Negotiations

According to Rokna, it appears that the Trump file has been assigned to Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

Larijani may serve as the representative of the Iranian system in indirect and direct negotiations and contacts with Trump. The government will certainly welcome this development and assist him, as it considers the situation to be in favor of resolving the issue.

The first news regarding the outcome of mediation efforts between Iran and the United States was released by Ali Larijani on Saturday night. This remains the only report published so far.

The positive news about the negotiations acted like cold water poured on the fire surrounding Trump, especially after Trump himself, on the other side of the world, confirmed negotiations with Iran. A glance at the decline in gold coin and dollar prices on Sunday is enough to see the impact of these parallel positions taken on both sides of the globe.

If negotiations between Iran and Trump do take place, the responsibility will most likely be assigned to Larijani, just as it was 20 years ago (in 2005), when he was in charge of nuclear negotiations with Europe and later with the P5+1 group. That process, however, did not last long and, amid positive news and optimism about resolving the issue, he was dismissed by an order from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president at the time, and replaced by Saeed Jalili.

On Saturday night, Larijani published his first positive message regarding the United States and wrote in a post: “Contrary to the artificial media-driven war narrative, the formation of a structure for negotiations is progressing.”

This means that Iran and the United States have agreed on conducting negotiations and are now determining their form and framework. This means that both sides have stepped away from war.

Larijani’s important post on the negotiations was published after the short and rapid visit on Saturday night of Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar, to Tehran. He is a well-known mediator between Tehran and Washington.

Alongside Turkey and Russia, Qatar has become one of the key behind-the-scenes mediators between Iran and the United States in recent days. In recent years, Qatar has repeatedly acted as an intermediary between Tehran and Washington. The most recent case was during the 12-day war, when it conveyed Trump’s ceasefire message to the Iranian side, leading to the halt of the war through a trilateral agreement between Tehran, Washington, and Tel Aviv. Prior to that, an announced but indirect round of Iran–U.S. negotiations (during the Raisi administration in July 2022) was held in Doha. The agreement between Iran and the United States on the exchange of prisoners and the release of seven billion dollars of Iran’s frozen assets in South Korea was also achieved through Qatari mediation.

Larijani also made an unannounced and sudden trip to Moscow on Friday night, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The meeting was brief and work-focused, with no photos or videos released and no usual media formalities. After the trip, Russian media and the Iranian embassy reported the visit. The news had already sparked speculation following the flight of a special government aircraft from Tehran to Moscow.

Following Larijani’s positive post, Trump also reacted in a similar tone and confirmed negotiations. He said that Iran is talking to the United States.

Trump told Fox News that Iran “is talking to us. We will see if we can do something, and if not, we will see what happens.” He repeated: “We have a large fleet moving in that direction (toward Iran).”

He continued: “They (Iran) are negotiating.”

Trump had previously stated that Iran is expected to pursue negotiations and an agreement over its nuclear and missile programs instead of military confrontation with the United States.

On Tuesday, Bahman 7 (January 26), Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister held separate phone conversations with Araqchi and Larijani on the same day. Earlier, on Dey 24 (January 14), Larijani also held a phone conversation with the Qatari side.

The volume and nature of contacts between mediators and Iranian officials confirm Larijani’s role in the Trump file.

Larijani had previously also played a role as the Leader’s representative in negotiations with China over the comprehensive cooperation agreement.

Previously, Iran’s nuclear file was handled by the Supreme National Security Council between 2003 and 2013 (Hassan Rouhani from 2003 to 2005, Ali Larijani from 2005 to 2007, and Saeed Jalili from 2007 to 2013). In 2013, following Hassan Rouhani’s election as president, the file was transferred from the Supreme National Security Council to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif took charge of the negotiations, which eventually led to the JCPOA.

Negotiations between Iran and Saudi Arabia aimed at normalizing relations were also pursued through Iran’s then Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, with mediation by Iraq and China, culminating successfully in Beijing in 2023 and restoring relations between the two countries after seven years. Ali Shamkhani, then Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, led the Iranian delegation in those talks.

After these two files, the decisive Trump and U.S. file has now also been placed under the authority of the Supreme National Security Council and its secretary, allowing a supra-governmental and cross-institutional official with broader authority and power to guide the Islamic Republic and the country through this critical stage.