Dubai ¨C The assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has plunged the Islamic Republic into its most perilous crisis since the 1979 revolution ¡ª confronting it with war on its own territory, an unresolved succession and mounting internal strain.
Despite the shock of Khamenei's killing, five regional officials and analysts cautioned against assuming rapid collapse. Iran's political order, they said, was deliberately constructed to avoid reliance on a single leader, dispersing authority across clerical institutions, the security apparatus and power networks.
"The Iranian system is bigger than one man ¡ª removing Khamenei could harden the regime rather than weaken it," said Danny Citrinowicz of the Atlantic Council.
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