Regime Change In Iran? Fearing Death, Khamenei Names Successors, Goes Into Hiding As Israel Pounds Tehran

As Israeli airstrikes lb Tehran and fears of US involution rise, Iran’s ultimate leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has taken bonzer steps to unafraid nan continuity of nan Islamic Republic. In what officials telephone nan astir aggravated battle connected Iran since nan 1980s warfare pinch Iraq, nan 86-year-old leader has gone underground, trim disconnected integer communications, and named imaginable successors — each while bracing for nan anticipation of his ain assassination.

Under expanding threat, Khamenei has stopped utilizing physics devices and now communicates solely done a trusted adjutant to debar detection. According to Iranian officials cited by The New York Times, nan ultimate leader has preemptively selected 3 elder clerics arsenic imaginable successors and directed nan Assembly of Experts to accelerate nan succession process if he is killed.

This marks a historical displacement successful Iranian politics. Succession has agelong been a forbidden subject, but Khamenei has surgery that silence, notably excluding his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, from nan shortlist. The decease of different imaginable successor, President Ibrahim Raisi, successful a 2024 chopper crash, has added urgency to nan leadership's contingency planning.

The standard of mentation reflects nan harm Iran has endured. In conscionable days, Israeli airstrikes person caused much demolition successful Tehran than nan full eight-year Iran-Iraq War, according to officials. The attacks person targeted military, nuclear, and civilian sites, pushing nan authorities into what it describes arsenic a two-front conflict — outer bombardments and soul sabotage.

Tehran has retaliated pinch its ain strikes, hitting Israeli hospitals, refineries, and homes. Yet Iranian leaders declare nan much insidious threat is from within: Israeli operatives allegedly deploying drones from wrong Iran, exposing what authorities telephone a "massive information and intelligence breach."

In response, Khamenei has softly replaced cardinal subject commanders and nan Ministry of Intelligence has enforced sweeping blackouts, grounded elder officials, and warned citizens to study suspicious activity — aliases look execution.

Officials are particularly wary of nan United States. Iran's activity admits only American munitions, including nan 30,000-pound bomb, could breach nan fortified Fordo atomic facility. Any US involvement, they concede, would displacement nan war’s standard and stakes dramatically. While threats of retaliation persist, Iranian officials fearfulness escalation could provoke a devastating response.

As Israeli strikes proceed and US President Donald Trump deliberates subject options, Iran is preparing not conscionable for war, but for a imaginable governmental succession that could specify nan country's adjacent chapter.

Published on: Jun 21, 2025 9:30 PM IST