Tehran: In a development poised to reshape the very calculus of power in Tehran, Iran's 86-year-old Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reportedly finds himself increasingly marooned. A relentless and targeted campaign of Israeli airstrikes has meticulously dismantled the bedrock of his military and security counsel, leaving gaping voids within his inner circle and igniting urgent concerns over the Islamic Republic's vulnerability to critical strategic errors.
Sources intimately familiar with the labyrinthine workings of Khamenei's decision-making apparatus reveal a chilling reality: several of his most indispensable military and security architects, the very sinews of his 15-20 member advisory core, have been eradicated since Israel dramatically escalated its aerial offensive on Friday. Among the tragically high-profile casualties are luminaries of the elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC): its overarching commander, Hossein Salami; the visionary aerospace chief, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who masterminded Iran's ballistic missile prowess; and the shadowy spymaster, Mohammad Kazemi. These stalwarts, once pivotal in orchestrating Iran's defense and safeguarding internal stability, have left an "extremely dangerous" vacuum in their wake, threatening the nation's strategic cohesion.
The systematic decapitation of these top echelons represents the most profound security penetration into Iran's leadership since the transformative 1979 Islamic Revolution. It is a surgical dismantling of the military edifice that Khamenei had painstakingly constructed as the bedrock of state power since his ascension in 1989, a force he leaned upon heavily for both domestic control and regional projection. The repercussions extend beyond Iran's borders, as key figures within Tehran's vaunted "Axis of Resistance" – including Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad – have also been casualties of Israeli actions or broader regional upheavals.
While Khamenei, known for his cautious pragmatism, retains ultimate authority and continues to consult with surviving advisors on political, economic, and diplomatic fronts, the absence of his seasoned military strategists is acutely felt. This unforeseen erosion of his immediate security and military brain trust could compel the Supreme Leader to navigate the escalating conflict with Israel with a dangerously truncated array of expert perspectives, thereby amplifying the specter of unforeseen and dire consequences.
In a tangible sign of heightened alarm, Iran's cybersecurity command has reportedly imposed a ban on officials' use of personal communication devices, signaling an intense state of internal alert amidst what Iranian state media has branded a "massive cyber war" unleashed by Israel upon its digital infrastructure. As the two antagonists relentlessly exchange blows, with global oil markets already simmering under the geopolitical heat, the decimation of Khamenei's inner circle injects an unprecedented and volatile dimension into the already combustible dynamics of the Middle East.