Iran’s shadow leader drives a power struggle among rival factions
Iran’s unseen Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has become a political weapon in a widening intra-regime power struggle, with competing claims about President Masoud Pezeshkian’s relationship to the leader. Reports from Iran International describe conflicting narratives—one suggesting plans to resign and another that Pezeshkian met with Mojtaba—while experts say a leadership vacuum is fueling infighting among Islamist factions that weaponize Khamenei’s name to justify moves and constrain rivals. The claims have not been independently verified, and Mojtaba Khamenei’s public absence adds to the uncertainty about who really controls the regime.
