|
Trending Topics
|
Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22796/iran-agha-absence
The Elimination of Ali Khamenei Has Created a Vacuum
(Gatestone Institute) Amir Taheri - For the first time in almost 48 years, what is left of the Khomeinist leadership is taking the possibility of regime change seriously. The latest phase of the war has weakened the regime to the point that it fears that an end of hostilities could reignite the street. More than four million people have lost their jobs, and thousands of businesses have gone bust. The government admits that over 5,000 public projects have been frozen for lack of funds or personnel to supervise them. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says there isn't enough money to import gasoline from India, causing a 15% shortage that could bring hundreds of thousands of vehicles, including military ones, to a halt. The elimination of Khamenei senior created a vacuum that his anointed successor Mojtaba isn't able to fill. Ali Khamenei was always in the news. On Fridays, 5,000 preachers across Iran would read the text he had dictated during mass prayers. Khamenei had his personal representatives in every ministry, army division, major public company and even embassies. He created more than a dozen "councils," each headed by one of his acolytes, to make sure that, as the Persian poet said, not a single insect moved on a leaf without him knowing about it. The Council of the Guardians of the Constitution, the Expediency Council, the Islamic Convergence Council, the Islamic Awakening Council, the Axis of Resistance Council, the Foreign Policy Strategic Board, the High Council of National Security, and the Assembly of Experts of Leadership haven't had a session since Khamenei was killed by the Israelis. The writer was executive editor-in-chief of the daily Kayhan in Iran from 1972 to 1979.