The funeral of Iran’s Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a US-Israeli strike on 28 February, was not merely a farewell ceremony for the Supreme Leader; it marked the start of a new phase that raises major questions about the future of the Iranian regime.
Perhaps the most telling point about the funeral was the absence of the new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba, Ali Khamenei’s son, from a ceremony intended to affirm the transfer of power and the regime’s continuity. This is why Al Majalla has chosen this story.
The question is no longer only who succeeds Khamenei, but what kind of Iran will emerge after him? Will the security state that he built endure, or will the struggle between the Revolutionary Guards and new centres of power, foremost among them Parliament’s Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, impose a different course? And how will this be reflected in the conduct of Iran and its proxies in the region?
