Iran After Larijani and Khamenei

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The killings of Ali Khamenei and Ali Larijani have pushed the Islamic Republic into its most acute crisis since 1979.

The assassination of Ali Larijani on March 17 has shattered what remained of Iran’s fragile leadership, accelerating its descent into a fractured autocracy—defiant in ideology but paralyzed in function. Just weeks after the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Larijani’s elimination removed the last credible link between the clerics, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and President Masoud Pezeshkian’s reformist‑leaning government. With no unifying authority and relentless bombardment underway, Tehran now faces its most vulnerable moment.

Khamenei’s death set off a rapid succession process. On March 8, the Assembly of Experts elevated his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, to the supreme leadership. Since then, Mojtaba has not appeared in any independently verified footage; every message has been filtered through state media, stressing military defiance and urging Gulf states to expel US forces. Officials continue to deny persistent rumors that he was seriously injured in the opening strikes. Still, the absence of transparent visuals has only deepened doubts about his ability to control the state.

Without Larijani’s stabilizing influence, factional rivalries have only........

© The National Interest