“The pillars (…) are the guide of the Revolution. This is why the enemy seeks to target them and take those actions threatens the axis of this unity». The words of Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmaïl Khatib, quoted by the Isna news agency on November 22, are imprecise, but represent a warning. Ali Khamenei, 86 years old and in power since 1989, is his country’s number one and main decision maker on all strategic issues of the Islamic Republic. Statements regarding its security were rare before June and the war between Iran and Israel.
Minister Khatib’s remarks did not explicitly refer to a specific event or project. But Iranian officials regularly warn of suspected foreign plots, generally linked to America and Israel. Moreover, tensions with these two countries flared at the beginning of the summer. On June 13, Israel launched a surprise attack of unprecedented scale against strategic facilities in Iran, killing dozens of senior Iranian officers, nuclear scientists, and civilians. These attacks sparked a 12-day war between the two foes, during which the United States also bombed three Iranian nuclear sites.
On November 11, Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian said that he feared the assassination of the supreme leader during this conflict, and that his death would cause internal divisions.
These fears are not unfounded, according to Israeli and American leaders who have repeatedly threatened to attack Ayatollah Khamenei. Benyamin Netanyahu even stated on the ABC News channel that he killed the Supreme Leader “(will not) exacerbate the conflict”, instead “end it”. Donald Trump even called him “soft target”. While adding that the United States would not attend “not removing it, at least not for now”.
During the 12 days of war against Israel, Ayatollah Khamenei no longer appeared in public. He only addressed the nation through recordings, where he appeared alone. And since the ceasefire came into effect on June 24, the number of public events has reduced significantly.
