Six months after the start of the war and Mojtaba Khamenei’s elevation to supreme leader, he remains entirely out of public view. Badly wounded in the airstrikes that began the conflict, he has appeared at no public events, while his few messages to Iranians have come in written statements read by news broadcasters.

As a result, doubts are growing over Khamenei’s condition and whether he is actually running the country.

Iranian officials insist that he remains in control. They attribute the absence of photographs, videos or audio recordings to assassination fears and the disfiguring facial injuries he suffered in the strikes. They say Khamenei meets senior officials in person, receives major reports and makes the final decisions on important issues, while delegating broad day-to-day authority to a small group of senior figures.

For now, a reconfigured power structure centered on the Supreme National Security Council, with the Revolutionary Guards playing a central role, is holding the system together even as Iran’s economy buckles under the cost of the war and the blockade of its oil exports.

But the supreme leader’s prolonged absence is deepening uncertainty among Iranians and, according to analysts, risks creating a dangerous leadership vacuum at a time when crucial decisions must be made over the course of the war.

(Reuters, max)