US EditionWhy Khamenei’s death is unlikely to mean the end of the Islamic regime
Khamenei’s decades-long consolidation of power and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ influence maintain regime stability despite internal unrest and external military pressures.
- Saturday's death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, occurred amid the opening salvo of a U.S.-Israeli military campaign targeting the regime.
- After his 1989 elevation, Khamenei moved to centralize authority by seizing media control, sidelining rivals, hollowing out state institutions, and empowering the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
- Those groups, once a strategic buffer, have been weakened since October 7, 2023, with Hamas and Hezbollah suffering heavy losses and neither declaring renewed wars after Khamenei's death.
- Khamenei's rule faced escalating domestic unrest as brutal crackdowns, including murders in prisons and streets, met growing demands by Iranian protesters and disaffected youth between 1999 and 2026.
- June 2025 strikes left Iran's nuclear program significantly degraded, and American negotiators met Iranian envoys in Khamenei's final days to pursue a deal limiting enrichment.
15 Articles
15 Articles
Colonel José do Carmo explains that Ali Khamenei's death will not bring an end to the regime. Also highlights the importance of the Lages Base in the Azores: Portugal may suffer consequences?
Biggest uprising against Islamic regime in process; Iran on the verge of freedom, activist says
Goldie Ghamari described her reaction to the death as deeply emotional. She is also said Iranians living in exile are waiting to return home and build the country. Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei, was killed on Saturday after the US and Israel launched a war on the country to trigger regime change.
Why Regime Change in Iran Is Unlikely
Following massive joint airstrikes by U.S. and Israeli forces that reportedly killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Donald Trump is heavily advocating for regime change in Iran. Despite the aggressive military campaign and calls for a civilian uprising, veteran diplomat Donald Heflin warns that the Iranian regime's deeply entrenched power and well-armed Revolutionary Guards make a successful civilian-led overthrow highly improb…
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