Supreme Leader’s Absence Raises Alarm in Iran

[JoeB131]

You know that's a lie, Joe. I won't even bother arguing. You know it's a lie.

Quit lying. You don't live in Iran, nor do you have any accurate measure of their sentiment toward the Ayatollah. I base this on the HUMINT that was gathered by the Mossad and released publicly. There is about an 80%-20% split against the mullahs and the Ayatollah himself.

Um, wasn't this the same Mossad that ABSOLUTELY INSISTED Saddam had WMDs and we needed to go in there and kill him?

I wouldn't believe anything the Mossad told me, and neither should you.

Do you not get this? The Mossad wants to manipulate the US into a war with Iran.

Did you not learn a ******* thing from Iraq or Afghanistan, where everyone insisted, absolutely insisted, that if we went in, they would be throwing flowers at us. Well, they were throwing something at us, but it wasn't flowers!!!

 

[JoeB131]

The army outnumbers the IRGC by about 5 to 1. If the army defects and rebels with the people they can overthrow the Regime.

Indeed. Here's to hoping they can pull it off.

Um, let's get real here. The Army is made up of loyal Shi'a Muslims. The generals were all appointed by Khameini.

And why do you think a military regime would be any better than a theocratic one? It would probably be worse and less capable of solving the country's problems.

Here's what you nitwits don't get. Unlike Iraq, which was a dictatorship, Iran has an elected president and an elected parliament. Yes, the "Supreme Council" holds considerable power, but the actual functioning of government is far more complex than that. (A better analogy is that the Supreme Council is like the Supreme Court, but with more ability to override the President and Parliament.

 

[toomuchtime_]

There is growing concern and scrutiny over Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's absence after fleeing to an underground bunker a week ago during the thick of Israeli bombings on Tehran during the 12-day War. It leads me to suppose that he is dead, either from his cancer or due to the overwhelm resulting from the raging battle taking place over his country. Make no mistake, I'd prefer him to be dead; he brought this on himself.



"Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has not been seen publicly or heard from in nearly a week. That absence has surprised and unnerved everyone from political insiders to the general public."

With the nation watching, the host on Iranian state television asked the question that so many people in Iran — from the political elite to people on the street — were wondering.

“People are very worried about the supreme leader,” the host said to an official from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s office on Tuesday. “Can you tell us how he is?”

He noted that viewers had sent a flood of messages asking the same thing. But the official, Mehdi Fazaeli, the head of Mr. Khamenei’s archives office, did not give a straight answer.

Instead, Mr. Fazaeli said that he, too, had received numerous inquiries from officials and others worried about the ayatollah after the furious bombing campaign by Israel and the United States.

“We should all be praying,” Mr. Fazaeli said.

Link (Paywall): https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/...ytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Link (Paywall removed): https://archive.is/jfcPl

I am hoping to hear he was captured by Mossad and brought back to Israel to stand trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity and will spend the rest of his life in an Israeli prison.

 

[JoeB131]

I am hoping to hear he was captured by Mossad and brought back to Israel to stand trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity and will spend the rest of his life in an Israeli prison.

Not sure where they would have jurisdiction.

Also, wouldn't that make it okay for the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security to kidnap Bibi and put him on trial for war crimes?

Or Trump, for that matter.

 

[MarathonMike]

Um, let's get real here. The Army is made up of loyal Shi'a Muslims. The generals were all appointed by Khameini.

And why do you think a military regime would be any better than a theocratic one? It would probably be worse and less capable of solving the country's problems.

Here's what you nitwits don't get. Unlike Iraq, which was a dictatorship, Iran has an elected president and an elected parliament. Yes, the "Supreme Council" holds considerable power, but the actual functioning of government is far more complex than that. (A better analogy is that the Supreme Council is like the Supreme Court, but with more ability to override the President and Parliament.

The Syrian Regime fell, so can the Iranian Regime. The Democratic side of the Iranian Government is all for show, the Supreme Council runs the country.

 

[JoeB131]

The Syrian Regime fell, so can the Iranian Regime. The Democratic side of the Iranian Government is all for show, the Supreme Council runs the country.

I think you are a tad confused.

The Syrian regime fell to an armed rebellion, not an overthrow by it's own military.

The problem with the Bashir regime in Syria is that his Allawite backers were only 10% of the population. And even then, it took 10 years of rebellion to finally bring them down.