The New York Times reported today (February 22): Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei is preparing for "after his death"
The report said that Tehran is seriously assessing a potential scenario in which, if the US launches an attack, it might eliminate Iran's core leadership in one go. To prevent himself and other key figures from being killed in an attack, Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei has established a succession system. The system stipulates that each core position has up to four potential successors.
Additionally, Khamenei's core assistants have been granted delegated authority to exercise power in case of losing contact with the Supreme Leader. Although the successors are expected to come from senior Shia clerics, their specific names remain confidential at this time.
Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, is seen as the actual coordinator of this system. He currently leads related negotiations, maintains contact with allies, and is responsible for developing national governance plans during wartime.
During last year's conflict between Iran and Israel, Iran's military leadership suffered several losses in a short period. Afterward, the Iranian authorities learned from the experience and resolved to eliminate the risk of the country's system collapsing in the future.
Comment: Khamenei's establishment of a "multi-head succession" system is essentially an Iranian version of a "doomsday plan." Having experienced the painful loss of core generals last year due to an Israeli "decapitation," combined with fear of potential U.S. military strikes, this mechanism of "multiple backups and pre-delegated power" aims to make the Iranian regime "uncapturable." It sends the strongest strategic signal to the U.S. and Israel: even if the core layer is taken out, Iran's state machinery and retaliatory capabilities will not collapse.
The New York Times releasing this information at this time reflects that the situation in the Middle East has approached a high-risk red line. Iran is not merely preparing for routine power transitions, indicating that the Tehran leadership has classified U.S. military actions from "possibility" to "high probability." Larijani's emergence as a coordinator marks that Iran is transitioning comprehensively from "political maneuvering" to a "wartime governance" mode.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1857832334213131/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author themselves.