Ali Khamenei
Preparing for Life After Khamenei
Ali Khamenei’s six-day funeral drew vast crowds into Tehran, turning mourning into a display of grief, vengeance and state continuity. But beneath the red flags and public rituals, the ceremonies exposed Iran’s internal divisions, anxieties over security and uncertainty about the country’s unseen new leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.
Mourning Khamenei
Expressions of reverence, grief and devotion will abound at the supreme leader's funeral in Iraq, but the Axis of Resistance’s messaging simplifies a much more complex reality.
What the Islamic Republic Learned About Repression From Syria
Like the Assad regime that it assisted, the Islamic Republic has responded to mass protests by committing atrocities and claiming that protesters are foreign-backed “terrorists and spies.” The parallels indicate how far Iran is willing to go to ensure its survival.
The Limited Power of Iran’s President
When President Masoud Pezeshkian suggested that Iran should avoid escalating tensions with its Arab neighbors, observers speculated that the country’s leadership was splintering. But the presidency, which once appeared to embody the executive authority of the Islamic Republic, has been steadily eroding for decades.
Iran Has Always Been More Than the Islamic Republic
An Iranian journalist reflects on the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, considering decades of failed sanctions, diaspora authoritarianism and the civilizational story that nobody told.
The Unresolved Contradictions Ali Khamenei Leaves Behind
Ali Khamenei’s journey took him from literary modernism to revolutionary Islamism. With the supreme leader’s death, Iranians are left to reckon with the political order he shaped and the unresolved contradictions he leaves behind. The impending succession now places the Islamic republic’s future in question.
The Islamic Republic’s Broken Promises of Economic Justice
Iran’s Islamic republic was built on a pledge to uplift the poor and uproot inequality. Instead, decades of sanctions, ideological priorities and the Revolutionary Guard’s economic dominance have produced mass impoverishment and recurring unrest.