Amid the threat of a US military strike, Iran's leadership is discussing scenarios not only for its own defense but also for the regime's political survival, including who would rule the country in the event of the death of the Supreme Leader and senior officials, The New York Times reports.
According to the publication, the figure of the so-called “Iran's Delcy“ is being discussed in Tehran – a reference to Delcy Rodriguez, who has led Venezuela since the capture of her predecessor, Nicolas Maduro, by US forces.
The newspaper's sources claim that Ali Larijani, head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, is first on the list of possible candidates. He is followed by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Former President Hassan Rouhani is also on the list, despite his distance from the Supreme Leader's inner circle. In addition, each of these candidates has a serious negative experience that would limit their support among the angry population - be it accusations of corruption or complicity in human rights violations in Iran, including the recent killing of protesters, the publication writes.
Meanwhile, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has already instructed Larijani to ensure the stability of the Islamic Republic in the event of war or assassination attempts against the leadership, the article states. Tehran accepts that US strikes may be inevitable and has put its armed forces on high alert, deploying missile launchers near the border with Iraq and in the Persian Gulf region.
At the same time, as the publication notes, the authorities are preparing measures to prevent internal instability, including the deployment of security forces and the Basij militia in major cities. This force, numbering approximately 10 million people, is part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
A senior adviser to US President Donald Trump told Axios that one of the scenarios the US is considering regarding Iran involves the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his son Mojtaba, who is seen as a potential successor.
The New York Times earlier reported that an attack on Iran would drag the US into a prolonged military conflict and lead to a sharp drop in energy prices. Iran is a far more formidable adversary militarily than Venezuela. The airspace over Caracas was relatively undefended when the United States launched an operation against Maduro in January. However, Iran has one of the largest arsenals of various types of weapons in the entire Middle East, according to regional experts.
On February 20, Trump announced that he was considering a limited strike against Iran to force Tehran to make a deal. Earlier, the American leader promised that the world would find out what was happening with Iran within the next ten days. He threatened that “bad things could happen” to Tehran.
Axios, citing one of Trump's advisers, reported a 90 percent probability of a direct clash between the United States and Iran.