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After War, the Iranian Regime Has Emerged Emboldened
(Washington Post) Susannah George - After surviving months of strikes by two of the world's most potent militaries, the Iranian regime has emerged emboldened, officials and experts said, and remains ruthless. Iran "might be weaker when it comes to its economic situation, its industries, some of its strategic capabilities," said Raz Zimmt, head of Iran research at the Institute for National Security Studies in Israel. "But the bottom line is that we are facing a new, bolder, self-confident Iran." Nearly all of those now in high-ranking positions spent formative years as lieutenants in security agencies or military units responsible for crackdowns on domestic protests, arming proxy militias including Hizbullah and Hamas, and rising through the ranks of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, is a former Revolutionary Guard commander with deep ties to the Quds force that trains allied militias. Ahmad Vahidi, the Revolutionary Guard's new commander in chief, backed the violent crackdown against women's rights protests in 2022. Mohsen Rezaei, the new military adviser to the supreme leader, is an ardent advocate of escalation in response to any U.S. and Israeli attacks. "They are brimming with confidence," said a European official in regular contact with Iranian officials. "They not only survived, they rediscovered the Strait of Hormuz as a big lever, and they really think that they can dictate terms."