Israel and the United States’ targeted assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei—and subsequent strikes on a gathering of the Islamic Republic’s Assembly of Experts—turned long-standing deliberations over who should succeed Khamenei into an opaque emergency process. The assembly’s decision to choose Khamenei’s son Mojtaba was thus made as much out of necessity as it was out of merit. It...
The strongest version of this narrative highlights how external aggression—U.S. and Israeli assassinations and threats—paradoxically strengthened Iran’s hard-line factions by forcing an emergency succession that consolidated power under Mojtaba Khamenei. The regime’s defiance, framed as resistance to foreign domination, overshadowed internal divisions and constitutional norms, demonstrating how perceived existential threats can override ideological consistency. The article effectively captures t...