In the shadow of mounting military pressure and fears of assassination, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has reportedly moved to a secure underground bunker and suspended all electronic communications, drastically limiting his direct contact with top military commanders.
According to three senior Iranian officials familiar with his emergency war plans, Khamenei now communicates primarily through a single, trusted aide as Israel’s unprecedented airstrikes continue to devastate Tehran and other parts of the country.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, revealed that the supreme leader has also preemptively appointed a line of replacements across Iran’s military command in case more high-ranking lieutenants are killed in the ongoing conflict.
In what analysts describe as an extraordinary and revealing move, Khamenei has also named three senior clerics as potential successors to his position—an action that underscores the gravity of the moment for both his leadership and the Islamic Republic itself.
Ayatollah, 86, is said to view the possibility of assassination as a path to martyrdom but is determined to ensure continuity of power and the preservation of the state.
“The top priority is the preservation of the state,” said Vali Nasr, a renowned Iran expert and professor of international affairs. “It is all calculative and pragmatic.”
The Iranian leader’s heightened security measures follow Israel’s surprise and relentless military campaign, which began just one week ago but is already being described as the most intense assault on Iran since the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s.
Iranian officials claim that the strikes have inflicted greater damage on Tehran in days than Saddam Hussein did in eight years of war.
Despite the initial shock, Iran has mounted a counteroffensive, launching daily missile strikes that have hit strategic locations in Israel including a hospital, the Haifa oil refinery, and residential and religious sites.
Behind the scenes, Iranian leadership is bracing for a protracted conflict and a range of possible escalations—including the potential involvement of the United States. President Donald Trump, who has signaled interest in the region’s developments, is reportedly weighing options.
The country’s political and military chain of command remains intact for now, despite the loss of several key figures and the ongoing threat of further decapitation strikes. Diplomats and Iranian sources confirm that there are no visible signs of internal dissent, though contingency planning has reached unprecedented levels.
Among the most significant revelations is that Mojtaba Khamenei, the supreme leader’s son and a cleric with close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), is not among the three chosen successors—despite long-running speculation about his ambitions. Former President Ebrahim Raisi, who was widely believed to be a front-runner, died in a helicopter crash in 2024.
By directing Iran’s Assembly of Experts to expedite the appointment of a new supreme leader in the event of his death, Khamenei is bypassing the traditionally lengthy and opaque selection process, which can take months of deliberations within elite clerical circles.
The move is seen as a calculated attempt to avoid a power vacuum at a critical juncture in the country’s history.
