Der Oberste Führer des Iran, Ali Khamenei, ist auf der Flucht

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the longest serving leader in the Middle East, faces an existential choice if he wants to preserve his rule and the theocracy that has governed Iran for nearly 50 years.

At least 2,600 people have been killed in the latest crackdown, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, the highest toll of any unrest during Khamenei’s tenure.

Misfortune has piled on the supreme leader since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. In a series of wars that ensued, Israel pummeled Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran itself, striking the country directly for the first time ever. In late 2024, another key Iranian ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, fell to an Islamist rebellion.

Last summer, an emboldened Israel launched a blistering attack on Iranian nuclear facilities and missile sites, including residential areas of the capital as it attacked top military officers and nuclear scientists. Toward the end of the 12-day war, American B-2 bombers hit key Iranian nuclear facilities with massive bombs.

If Khamenei is unwilling to compromise to salvage the system, hard-line loyalists of the Islamic Republic could take action to either usurp or marginalize him, said Alex Vatanka, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington.