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Source: https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-905997
So Who's Running Iran?
(Jerusalem Post) Sogand Fakheri - Since Mojtaba Khamenei was appointed supreme leader of the Islamic Republic in March, he has not delivered a live public speech. Statements have appeared under his name, speeches have been read on his behalf, and officials have repeatedly assured the public that he remains active. Yet Iranians have barely seen him or heard his voice. Many Iranians therefore believe Mojtaba was killed or left incapacitated during the war. The question is: who is actually governing Iran, who is issuing orders in his name, and how long can a regime survive when even the condition of its highest authority has become a matter of speculation? The Islamic Republic built its political structure around the supreme leader as the ultimate authority: commander in chief, final decision-maker, and the figure standing above the elected government. If that man cannot demonstrate that he is exercising power, the regime faces more than a public-relations problem. It faces a crisis at the center of its political system. A system built around one supreme figure cannot indefinitely survive that figure's disappearance. The writer is an Iran analyst at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.