A major strike by the U.S. and Israel on Saturday put Iran’s leadership structure under intense spotlight after Iranian state media reported the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In comments made hours before the Iranian reports, U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iranians to act against the Islamic leadership he said has ruled since 1979, arguing the attack gave the Iranian people a rare opening. Trump called the moment “the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country” and urged them to “seize control of your destiny,” the article said, adding that his social media post did not elaborate on a cause. Iranian state media reported Khamenei’s death on Sunday, according to the account, including that the strikes also killed other high-ranking military officials.
Even with the death of top leaders, the article said regime change is not guaranteed. It laid out roles held by Iran’s senior political and religious figures—who wields authority over policy, who manages day-to-day governance, and which bodies influence succession and candidate eligibility—mapping the positions that may matter most in the aftermath.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei became supreme leader in 1989 after the death of Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, according to the report. At the time, Khamenei had played a role in the movement that overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in the 1979 revolution. The article described the 86-year-old Khamenei as Iran’s commander-in-chief with the final say on policy and religious matters, and said the Revolutionary Guard that safeguards the Islamic Republic answers directly to him. It also said Khamenei oversaw previous crackdowns on protesters and, in a recent statement, said Iran was ready to retaliate against any American attack. The report said one of the first strikes Saturday hit near Khamenei’s offices.
Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian, described as broadly reformist, took office July 28, 2024, the article said. It described him as the second-highest ranking official in Iran and as the head of government handling daily administration and economic policy while implementing Supreme Leader decrees. Iranians elect both a president and parliament for four-year terms, the report added.
The article also highlighted Iran’s foreign policy leadership. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, a longtime diplomat and key negotiator in the now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal, was appointed Aug. 21, 2024, according to the report. It said Araghchi warned days before Saturday’s attack that a conflict with the U.S. would be “a devastating war,” while reiterating Tehran’s interest in a peaceful solution ahead of high-stakes talks this week.
Beyond the president and foreign minister, the report described advisers close to the Supreme Leader who help shape strategy and international negotiation. Khamenei adviser on public policy Ali Larijani was described as hailing from one of Iran’s famous political families, serving as a former parliamentary speaker and senior policy adviser, and being appointed as an adviser on strategy in nuclear talks with the Trump administration. The report said the U.S. imposed additional sanctions in January on officials including Larijani, and it said the U.S. Treasury Department accused him of repressing nationwide protests and being among the first officials to call for violence against Iranian protesters. It also described Chief Justice Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi as a conservative jurist and hard-line prosecutor who has served as chief justice since 2021 and is widely regarded as a Khamenei loyalist; the report said state media in January quoted him as saying there would be “no leniency” for those behind the wave of unrest.
The article pointed to the clerical and oversight bodies that can influence succession and political participation. It described Mohammad-Ali Movahedi Kermani as head of the 88-seat Assembly of Experts, the clerical body responsible for appointing the next Supreme Leader, calling the Assembly of Experts Iran’s version of the Vatican’s College of Cardinals. It described Secretary of Guardian Council Ahmad Jannati as the de facto leader of the Guardian Council, explaining that the 12-member body vets candidates for office and legislation and rules out individuals believed incompatible with Iran’s theocratic system. The report said the council includes six Islamic theologians and six legal experts, and that it can disqualify presidential candidates perceived as not aligned with the Supreme Leader.
It also described Khamenei’s chief of staff, Mohammad Golpayegani, as an Islamic cleric and longtime confidant who heads the Supreme Leader’s office. For international affairs, the report named Ali Akbar Velayati, described as a physician by training who previously served as foreign minister and is a top adviser to Khamenei on international affairs involved in nuclear policy. It also listed Kamal Kharazi as a trusted adviser on foreign policy, noting that he previously represented Iran at the United Nations and has held a range of governmental, diplomatic and academic posts, including during recent nuclear talks with Washington.
Within the government and legislature, the report said First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref serves as a primary deputy to the president and leads cabinet meetings when the president is absent, while liaising between the president and parliament. It described Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf as a conservative figure, a former mayor of Tehran and Revolutionary Guard general who was reelected parliamentary speaker on May 27, 2025, and said he was linked to student crackdowns in 1999 and 2003.
On the religious side, the report described Tehran Friday Prayer Imam Ahmad Khatami as a Guardian Council member and influential prayer leader loyal to the Supreme Leader, with long-known hard-line views. It said that in January, Khatami called for the death penalty for protesters detained during a nationwide crackdown and described those taking part in the unrest as “butlers” of Netanyahu and “Trump’s soldiers.” The article also described Mojtaba Khamenei, the Supreme Leader’s second-eldest son, as a midranking cleric and the Supreme Leader’s rumored successor, saying he has close ties with the Revolutionary Guard and served in the armed forces during the Iran-Iraq war, while being described as wielding influence behind the scenes as his father’s gatekeeper.
The report also named Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh, saying he became defense minister in 2024 after serving in leadership roles in Iran’s army and air force. It said Nasirzadeh was among the Iranian ministers who threatened retaliatory strikes on U.S. bases in the Middle East, including before last June’s U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. It said Israel reported on Saturday that he was killed in the war’s opening strikes, which targeted locations where military leaders were gathered, and that Iranian state television confirmed his death on Sunday, along with the chief of army staff, Gen. Abdol Rahim Mousavi.
MSI previously reported that Khamenei’s death arrived amid crackdown and nuclear tensions in the lead-up to the Saturday strikes in that separate developing coverage.