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Why Is Mojtaba Khamenei Stepping Out of the Shadows?

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  Why Is Mojtaba Khamenei Stepping Out of the Shadows? Anatomy of a Rushed Succession in the Shadow of War and Uprising By: Reza Hoseani Abstract During the first week of Aban 1404 (October 21-28, 2025), a series of official and semi-official reports emerged concerning meetings and messages involving Mojtaba Khamenei — including meetings with Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, a message to academic and athletic elites, and responses to letters from university students. This unprecedented flurry comes as the Islamic Republic faces a triple crisis: the imminent threat of external war, a deep domestic legitimacy crisis, and an unprecedented rift at the very top of the regime. By examining the sequence of these developments, this article argues that Mojtaba’s increased visibility is not a sign of consolidated power. Rather, it is a defensive maneuver driven by fear of losing control and an attempt to avoid being erased from the post-Khamenei equation. Introduction...
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From Ahmad Chalabi to Reza Pahlavi: The politics of manufactured opposition

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  By Ivan Sascha Sheehan , Majid Rafizadeh washingtonexaminer Published October 30, 2026 9:00am ET In May 2004, 14 months after the invasion of Iraq , it was clear that weapons of mass destruction could no longer be cited as justification for it. An intelligence source told the Guardian , “It’s pretty clear that the Iranians had us for breakfast, lunch and dinner.” They were referring to Iraqi fraudster Ahmad Chalabi and the Iraqi National Congress, which he headed. In the months before the invasion, Chalabi’s operation fed Washington repeated claims about Saddam Hussein’s purported WMD program. The claims seemed to arrive through separate channels, independently corroborating one another. In reality, they all had one source. If Iranian intelligence was involved, Tehran had helped remove its greatest regional enemy without ever needing to persuade an American to serve the clerical regime’s interests. Twenty-some years later, a similar question faces Western capitals, this time ab...
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Iran: Several Members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization (PMOI/MEK) Arrested During Attack on Judiciary Headquarters in Tehran

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  The leadership of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) inside the country announced that several members of the organization were arrested on the evening of Friday, October 16, 2026, during clashes with security personnel from the judiciary and police patrols, while an attack was underway targeting the central headquarters of the Iranian regime’s judiciary in Tehran. According to the statement, the clashes took place at around 9 p.m. local time on Abdollahzadeh Street, off Keshavarz Boulevard, near the judiciary’s central headquarters. Resistance Units Mobilized Following Reports That Mohseni Ejei Was Heading to the Headquarters The PMOI leadership inside Iran explained that, several hours before the operation, information had been received indicating that Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei, head of the Iranian regime’s judiciary, was on his way to Keshavarz Boulevard to proceed to the central headquarters. The statement added that, immediately upon receiving this info...
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Iran Faces a Growing Internal Crisis

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  By Chuck Wald We have passed the six-month mark of the war between the United States and the Iranian regime. Whatever Tehran’s rhetoric may suggest, its theocratic dictatorship is weaker today than at any point since its establishment in the aftermath of the 1979 Revolution. As this situation continues to unfold, it is increasingly important for Western governments and the broader international community to consider the policies needed to help bring about change driven not by foreign intervention, but by the Iranian people and their organized resistance.  The country’s economy, already suffering from years of decline before the war, is now exhibiting some of its worst indicators in decades, including inflation exceeding 100 percent on key consumer goods. Predictably, these pressures have intensified factional infighting within the regime. The turmoil has been compounded by the loss of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war, February 28.  Khamenei has be...
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Tehran Is Fighting Over Power. Iran’s Opposition Just Transferred It.

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  Ivan Sascha Sheehan Iran is facing two very different leadership stories. Inside the Islamic Republic, the question of who can lead the country, and whether the system can maintain cohesion around that leadership, has become increasingly difficult to answer. Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared publicly for roughly six months, leaving much of his political role to speculation. President Masoud Pezeshkian has meanwhile faced growing criticism from different factions as Iran confronts the consequences of war, economic collapse, and deepening social pressure. On September 6, as Iran’s ruling system struggled to project unity at the top, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) marked the start of its 62 nd year of founding by choosing a new secretary-general. The contrast is striking. According to the organization, Mahnaz Maimanat was elected through a three-stage internal voting process involving members in seven countries. She received 56 percent of the ...
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The Second Tanker War: Why the U.S. Is Targeting the IRGC's Floating Economy Instead of Iran's Cities

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  By: Reza Hoseani Introduction: From a City-Centered Doctrine to a Maritime Strategy The six-month war between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran has entered a phase that is strategically distinct from all previous conflicts in the Middle East. It is no longer a campaign focused on bombing cities and urban infrastructure, but a precise economic war at sea. In the largest wave of retaliatory actions since the war began, Tehran announced it had targeted ten vessels near the Strait of Hormuz after the United States sank five Iranian tankers. The development suggests Washington is deliberately avoiding strikes on urban areas to avoid alienating the Iranian public, and is instead targeting what is described as the IRGC’s economic lifeline: the shadow tanker fleet used to move billions of dollars in oil to circumvent sanctions.[1] Historical Context: A Different Kind of Tanker War This is not the first tanker war in the Gulf. During the 1984-1988 Tanker War, as part of t...
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