Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

May 14, 2026 11:44 AM

How has the Iran war affected Middle East states?

The war that began on February 28 with a massive Israeli-U.S. bombing campaign against Iran has rocked the entire Middle East, wreaking damage to infrastructure and economies and overturning settled assumptions about regional security. On a second major front, Israel launched a ground invasion and bombing campaign of Lebanon in March in pursuit of Hezbollah fighters after the armed group fired across the border in solidarity with Iran. This is how some countries have been impacted: IRAN The ...

March 24, 2026 11:58 AM

With top figures dead, who is now running Iran?

Iran's veteran supreme leader and a host of other top figures and Revolutionary Guards commanders have been killed in U.S.-Israeli strikes but the ruling system has maintained its ability to strategise and operate in the war that began on February 28. Born from a 1979 revolution, the Islamic Republic built a complex power structure with layered institutions buttressed by a shared commitment to the survival of the theocratic system rather than relying on a small number of individuals. IS THE...

March 9, 2026 11:34 AM

Iran defies Trump, elevates Khamenei’s son Mojtaba as successor

Iran's clerical leadership chose confrontation over compromise in appointing Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father, Ali Khamenei, a move regional officials say is a direct rebuke to U.S. President Donald Trump, who had declared the son "unacceptable". Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a U.S.-Israeli strike at the start of the conflict, now in its second week. The appointment of Mojtaba as his successor by the Assembly of Experts locks hardliners firmly in control in Tehran -...