{"id":81618,"date":"2026-04-21T22:46:59","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T22:46:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/irans-new-supreme-leader-is-nowhere-to-be-seen-that-might-be-helping-the-regime-to-survive\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T22:46:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T22:46:59","slug":"irans-new-supreme-leader-is-nowhere-to-be-seen-that-might-be-helping-the-regime-to-survive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/irans-new-supreme-leader-is-nowhere-to-be-seen-that-might-be-helping-the-regime-to-survive\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran\u2019s new supreme leader is nowhere to be seen. That might be helping the regime to survive"},"content":{"rendered":"
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More than six weeks after he was announced as their new supreme leader following the assassination of his father, Iranians have still not seen or heard Mojtaba Khamenei.<\/p>\n
In the midst of a conflict seen as posing an existential threat to the regime that has ruled their country for nearly half a century, Khamenei has been conspicuously absent. Instead, statements attributed to the 56-year-old cleric have been read out on national television or posted on social media. The regime has even used AI-generated videos to show Khamenei delivering messages, fueling speculation that the new supreme leader is incapacitated or abroad.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s in stark contrast to his father, the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was for decades the highly visible face of Iranian decision-making. Under him, not a week passed without a speech, a ruling, a carefully timed intervention.<\/p>\n
A source told CNN last month that Khamenei had suffered a fractured foot, a bruised left eye and minor lacerations to his face in the same wave of strikes that killed his father and Iran\u2019s top military commanders.<\/p>\n
Another report on Reuters cited unnamed sources as saying he is taking part in meetings with senior officials via audio conferencing and is engaged in decision-making on major issues including the war and new negotiations \u200cwith Washington.<\/p>\n
Is Khamenei in the loop? Is he setting the parameters, drawing the red lines his negotiators need? Or is the office of the leadership functionally vacant, and if so, who\u2019s calling the shots?<\/p>\n
Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, says it appears that \u201cMojtaba is not in a state where he can actually make critical decisions or micromanage the talks,\u201d but that \u201cthe system is using him to get final approval for key broad decisions and not (for) the tactics for the negotiations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe system does deliberately highlight Mojtaba\u2019s involvement because it provides a protective shield for that against internal criticism\u2026 unlike his father who would come out regularly and comment on the state of negotiations,\u201d he added. \u201cMojtaba is missing in action, so attributing views to him is a good cover for Iranian negotiators to protect themselves from criticism.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Very reasonable people\u2019<\/h3>\n
US President Donald Trump has boasted since the killing of the elder Khamenei that Iran has undergone regime change and described those now negotiating on behalf of Tehran as \u201creasonable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re dealing with different people than anybody\u2019s dealt with before,\u201d he said last month.<\/p>\n\n