New Delhi: In the meantime, it is said Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has taken refuge in a fortified bunker cut off from electronic communications as Israeli airstrikes rain down on Tehran, while he appoints three senior clerics as likely successors to safeguard the future of the Islamic Republic.
Khamenei, 86, who now evades detection and communication by speaking only through a trusty aide, is said to be concerned for his life by three Iranian officials with knowledge of Khamenei’s emergency war plans. He is so afraid of being assassinated — which he sees as a sort of martyrdom — that he also directed the Assembly of Experts to quickly pick a replacement among the three clerics — Alireza Arafi, Ali Asgar Hejazi, and Hashem Hosseini Bushehri — if he were assassinated. Notably, the exclusion of his son Mojtaba, a longstanding contender, signals the end of the dynastic succession.
The campaign by Israel, launched on June 13, has caused more damage to Tehran than during eight years of war with Iraq, hitting hospitals, oil refineries, and religious buildings. Meanwhile, Iran’s Health Ministry reported more than 430 deaths, and the IDF claimed that in a June 21 attack near the nuclear site of Isfahan, they had killed three senior commanders. After the bombings of the Israeli hospital, oil refinery, and residential neighbourhoods in Haifa, Iran avenged the slaughter by launching a barrage of strikes against Israeli targets; this marks the ninth day of conflict between the two countries.
He has lined up successors for military leaders to maintain the status quo, as casualties have mounted in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). According to Arash Azizi, a senior fellow at Boston University, “The regime is preparing for a leadership vacuum”—a “post-Khamenei Iran”, which the war has accelerated. Tension is also palpable on social media (X), where posts quoting Khamenei and promising to fight Israel are met with scepticism about the regime’s long-term sustainability.
NetBlocks reports that Iran’s internet, under a near-total blackout, restricts communication. Tehran’s fear of espionage is highlighted by the arrest of 22 alleged Israeli spies. Reformist Mohammad Ali Abtahi claims that, despite the Iranians’ early and fierce attack, which was expected to be the largest Israel had seen since the ’80s, an enraged Iran has reassembled and is launching daily counterstrikes, compelling a unified response from its neighbours.
Khamenei’s succession plan reveals the shaky foundations of his 30-year iron grip as Israel vows to obliterate Iran’s nuclear sites. The conflict’s trajectory, with U.S. B-2 bombers en route to their staging base in Guam, poses a risk of escalating into a wider war, as diplomats worldwide scramble to find a solution before disaster strikes.