Hard-line IRGC commander Brig Gen Ahmad Vahidi has emerged as a key architect of Iran’s tough negotiating stance, reportedly operating within a small inner circle close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.
The development comes as Iran rapidly rebuilds its military capabilities, according to a CNN.
Vahidi himself wasn't seen publicly for months after February 8, weeks before the war began, until Thursday, when Iranian newspapers carried images of the general meeting with Pakistan's interior minister in Tehran, who carried a message regarding negotiations with the US.
A longtime veteran of the ruling system, Vahidi helped shape Iran's support of militant groups across the region, is accused of a role in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre in Argentina, and in 2022 led domestic security forces in a bloody crackdown on protesters.
Elevated to Guard commander this year after his predecessor was killed early in the war, he leads the most powerful force in Iran, with its arsenal of ballistic missiles and its fleet of small boats threatening Persian Gulf shipping.
According to Washington-based Institute for the Study of War, "Vahidi and members of his inner circle have likely consolidated control over not only Iran's military response in the conflict but also Iran's negotiations policy."
Meanwhile, Iran has already restarted some of its drone production during the six-week ceasefire that began in early April, CNN reported, citing two sources familiar with US intelligence assessments.
US intelligence indicates Iran’s military is rebuilding much faster than initially estimated, the report added, citing four sources.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the United States was ready to proceed with further attacks on Tehran if Iran did not agree to a peace deal, but suggested Washington could wait a few days to "get the right answers."
Iran said on Thursday it was reviewing Washington's latest position on ending the war after Trump suggestion.
Tehran "is responding to a text sent by the US", Iran's ISNA news agency reported on Thursday, adding that the visit of Pakistan's army chief to Tehran was in order to minimise the gaps and help reach an official announcement of understanding.
Iran's war strategy has been to keep a stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, blocking oil and gas exports and causing a global energy crisis. At the same time, it has struck hard against oil facilities, hotels and infrastructure in Gulf Arab nations.
In negotiations, it has held out against US demands that it surrender its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, betting that it can outlast the US in the ongoing standoff and that President Donald Trump will be reluctant to resume outright war that could bring greater damage to America's Gulf allies.
That likely reflects Vahidi's confrontational style. "He comes from that mindset of unending revolution, unending resistance," said Kenneth Katzman, a senior fellow at the The Soufan Group, a New York-based think tank.
Vahidi believes "the US needs to be challenged at every turn", said Katzman, a senior Iran expert who advised the US Congress for over 30 years.
Vahidi boasted in January that Iran's defence power has developed to make it a "high risk for any military action by an enemy".
Pakistan hosted talks in April between an Iranian delegation led by parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and an American one headed by US Vice President JD Vance. But it ended without any deal.
Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi returned home to face criticism from inside the theocracy suggesting they were too willing to make concessions. Ghalibaf had to insist publicly that the talks had the support of the supreme leader.
Since then, Vahidi has become the main point of contact for those negotiating with Iran, said a regional official with direct knowledge of the mediation. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomacy.