https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-iran-conflict-06-22-25-intl-hnk#cmc8i3c1t00003b6n60gvsg3h
11 min ago
Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei faces the greatest challenge yet to his leadership following US strikes on his country’s nuclear sites, an analyst said, as the world awaits an official response from the Supreme Leader.
Khamenei is arguably in the “most dire situation of his entire life as an autocrat,” Karim Sadjadpour, from the Carnegie Endowment of International Peace, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
“He’s in a bunker. He’s 86 years old. He has limited physical, cognitive bandwidth. Most of his top military commanders were assassinated. He doesn’t control his own airspace. Israel controls it,” he said. “And, you know, there’s no way out of this war. He can’t win this war. He’s outmatched militarily, financially, technologically.”
Khamenei has not yet publicly commented since the US struck three key Iranian nuclear sites. He said last week in a national address that Iran will not surrender and warned that any US military intervention would result in “irreparable damage.”
After reportedly rejecting an Israeli plan to kill Khamenei, US President Trump stated last week that Iran’s Supreme Leader is an “easy target.”
Questions are mounting over whether such an intervention could trigger regime change in Tehran – an outcome that risks splintering the country and sending shockwaves across the region.
Khamenei has ruled Iran for more than 35 years as its highest authority, rising to power a decade after the 1979 Islamic Revolution overthrew a US-backed monarch.
The Supreme Leader “has survival instincts, but he also has defiant instincts,” Sadjadpour said. “And he’s having a real struggle in my view, reconciling those two.”
11 min ago
Iran’s Supreme Leader faces “most dire situation” of his rule, analyst says
From CNN's Rhea MogulIran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei faces the greatest challenge yet to his leadership following US strikes on his country’s nuclear sites, an analyst said, as the world awaits an official response from the Supreme Leader.
Khamenei is arguably in the “most dire situation of his entire life as an autocrat,” Karim Sadjadpour, from the Carnegie Endowment of International Peace, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
“He’s in a bunker. He’s 86 years old. He has limited physical, cognitive bandwidth. Most of his top military commanders were assassinated. He doesn’t control his own airspace. Israel controls it,” he said. “And, you know, there’s no way out of this war. He can’t win this war. He’s outmatched militarily, financially, technologically.”
Khamenei has not yet publicly commented since the US struck three key Iranian nuclear sites. He said last week in a national address that Iran will not surrender and warned that any US military intervention would result in “irreparable damage.”
After reportedly rejecting an Israeli plan to kill Khamenei, US President Trump stated last week that Iran’s Supreme Leader is an “easy target.”
Questions are mounting over whether such an intervention could trigger regime change in Tehran – an outcome that risks splintering the country and sending shockwaves across the region.
Khamenei has ruled Iran for more than 35 years as its highest authority, rising to power a decade after the 1979 Islamic Revolution overthrew a US-backed monarch.
The Supreme Leader “has survival instincts, but he also has defiant instincts,” Sadjadpour said. “And he’s having a real struggle in my view, reconciling those two.”
It was in front of our faces this entire time.
Coulda been Nikki Haley. she decided to throw it all away instead
