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Fox News’ chief national security correspondent, Jennifer Griffin, provided updates on the consequences following the U.S. and Israel’s military actions against Iran during an appearance on ‘America Reports’.
Iran found itself at a pivotal moment on Saturday as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei passed away, bringing an end to over 30 years of stringent rule. This unexpected event has triggered a leadership transition that the Iranian regime has been preparing for over time.
A senior Arab diplomat, in a conversation with The Times of Israel, remarked that although Khamenei’s death is a significant setback for the Islamic Republic, Iran had anticipated this eventuality and has implemented measures to endure the situation.
According to the diplomat, as reported by the outlet, “At this point, mere survival would be seen as a triumph” for the regime, especially following the U.S. and Israeli military operations across the nation.
A recent analysis from the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) identified three possible paths for Iran in the aftermath of Khamenei’s death: a continuation of the current regime with some management, a military takeover either overtly or gradually, or the potential for a systemic collapse.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli strike on Saturday. (Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran via Getty Images)
CFR cautioned that even a leadership change at the top would not necessarily translate into meaningful political reform in the near term, given the regime’s deeply institutionalized power structure and its record of using force to maintain control.
The report notes that the real balance of power rests within a tight circle of clerical elites and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
It describes a likely “continuity” scenario as producing “Khamenei-ism without Khamenei,” in which a successor from within the regime preserves the ideological framework of the Islamic Republic while relying on established security institutions to preserve stability.
“The Islamic Republic’s constitution includes a succession process. The Assembly of Experts, a clerical body, is constitutionally charged with selecting the next supreme leader,” Jason Brodsky, policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Fox News Digital.
“In the interim, should there be a leadership vacancy, an interim leadership council is formed comprised of the president, chief justice, and a member of the Guardian Council selected by the Expediency Council,” he added. “The IRGC is a key stakeholder in this process, and will heavily influence its outcome.”
Over the past three decades, the Bayt-e Rahbari, or the Office of the Supreme Leader, expanded into what a February report by UANI described as a “sprawling parallel state” operating alongside Iran’s formal institutions.
Large crowds gather at Enghelab Square in Tehran, Sunday, after Iranian state TV announced that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli strike. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The analysis characterizes the Office as the regime’s “hidden nerve center,” extending control across the military, security establishment and major economic foundations in ways that make the system’s authority institutional rather than dependent on Khamenei’s physical presence.
“The supreme leader today is no longer just one man; he is represented through an all-encompassing institution that consolidates power, manages succession, and guarantees continuity,” the non-partisan policy organization said. “The Islamic Republic’s most enduring strength lies in this hidden architecture of control, which will continue to shape the country’s future long after Khamenei himself departs from the scene.”
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